Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A soft knocking on his bedroom door frame pulled Harry’s attention away from his book, causing him to shift on his bed so he could see who was standing there. He smiled a bit when he saw Fiona standing there, leaning against the wall with her own smile on her face.

“Hey, Mum…” He said softly, sitting up a bit more as he looked at her, trying to be conscious of the late hour. “What’s up?”

“Hey, Haz… I just couldn’t sleep. Wanted to see if you were still awake too.”

“I am.” He nodded.

“I can see that.” She teased a bit, walking over and sitting on the edge of his bed. “...Wanna go on a little drive?”

He paused, raising a brow as he stuck a bookmark in his book. “...To where?”

“I dunno. Just… A drive.” Fiona shrugged. “I can’t sleep, you can’t sleep, what better way to chill out for a little bit than go on a drive? We can even stop somewhere and get something to eat if you want. I know it’s like, one in the morning, but it sounds like fun.”

Harry hummed a bit, before he nodded. “...Y’know what? That sounds nice, actually… Is it chilly out?”

“A bit. Grab a sweater. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Fiona smiled, leaning over and pressing a quick kiss to his forehead before she popped up and made her way back out of the room. Harry smiled, standing up after he set his book to the side and walking over to his desk chair, grabbing his hoodie before he followed his mum down the stairs.

She was standing by the door, clad in her fuzzy pajama pants, a flannel, and a jacket that was very obviously Gid’s, considering the fact that it was reaching down to her mid thigh.

“Hey, baby…” She said softly, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and hugging him close. “I left a note for Dad, in case he wakes up and we aren’t home.”

“Where did you leave it?” Harry asked. “Cause he might not see it.”

“I taped it to his forehead.”

“Oh, that works.”

Fiona snickered, making her way down the stairs and popping the door open, looking back to make sure her son was right behind her. She was right, it was chilly outside, and he shivered a bit as he stepped out. She immediately wrapped her arm around him once again, hugging him close as they made their way over to the car.

She unlocked the door and opened it, helping him climb up into the passenger seat and shutting it once he was safely inside. After a few minutes, and a quick double checking to make sure their seatbelts were secure, Fiona pulled out and started driving. Harry hummed softly, turning up the radio and flicking through stations for a moment until he found a 70’s station and settled on it.

“Gotta love KISS.” Fiona grinned. “Your dad and I’s wedding song was ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’. Did we ever tell you that?”

“No! Oh, that's so cool.” He grinned. “Did anyone think it was weird?”

“Nope, but that’s the plus side of all of your friends being just as weird as you are. Nobody batted an eye when it came on.”

Harry chuckled, leaning back in his seat and watching the other shops and houses zip by as she drove. There was something peaceful about a late night drive like this, the feeling that they were the only people around, the only ones awake to appreciate the night.

“Hey, Mum?” He asked softly.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a destination in mind?”

“Vaguely, yeah.”

“Did you tell Dad exactly where?”

“I told him we’d be gone for a few hours, and that if we’re not home by ten, that we’ve been kidnapped and or murdered and to call the police.”

“That… Doesn’t quite answer my question.” He chuckled.

“We’re going to the beach.” Fiona shrugged. “I don’t know which one, we’re just… Driving for a bit until we find one.”

Harry sat up, his eyes wide as he stared at her. “Wait, really? I thought… I thought you were scared of the ocean.”

“Oh. I’m terrified of it. But you’ve never been, and I’m willing to face my fears so you can see it.”

He was still staring at her, shock flooding his body before he leaned over and tightly wrapped his arms around her free one, squeezing her a bit.

“...Thank you, Mum.” He said softly, closing his eyes.

She chuckled softly, pulling up to a stop light and leaning down to kiss his forehead. “You’re welcome, baby. And again, don’t worry. Dad knows we’re going down south for a bit. He doesn’t question the strange things I do anymore.”

Harry smiled, nodding a bit as he shifted back into his seat, turning his head to continue watching the scenery go by as Fiona got on the highway, the road almost completely empty except for the few random people that were heading to or from work, looking like zombies behind the wheel of their cars.

The soft music playing from the radio seemed to fade into the background as both he and his mum hummed along, neither one quite feeling like singing, but still enjoying the music nonetheless.

Eventually, after almost two hours of driving, Fiona pulled off the highway and onto a side road, a bright smile on her face as a sign came into view.

“Southend-on-Sea.” She sighed happily. “My Mum and Dad brought me here for my eleventh birthday.”

“Really?” Harry asked in surprise. “But… Why would they take you to the beach if you’re so afraid of the ocean.”

“Funnily enough, I only became afraid of the ocean because of that trip. But, I still love the town.”

“What… Happened?” He asked softly, raising a brow as he stared at her.

“Oh, I got sucked out in a riptide and almost drowned. It was horrifying.”

“...Oh.”

“Don’t let that scare you, though.” Fiona quickly said, looking at him worriedly. “That was my own mistake. Plus, we didn’t exactly bring any swimsuits, so we can’t go deep into the water anyways.”

Harry snorted, nodding as he sat up, his eyes widening as he saw the glimpses of the dark ocean in the distance. Sensing his excitement, his mum rolled down the windows, allowing the fresh, salty air to rush over them both. Another few minutes, and an accidental car drift later, they were climbing out of the car and heading down onto the sand.

The sand wasn’t nearly as light and fluffy as it likely was during the summer, the surface almost solid from the water and cold air, but that made it easier to walk down to the water in their trainers, not having to worry about getting any in their shoes in the process.

Once they were at the water’s edge, Harry couldn’t stop the giggles that erupted from his chest as the waves came crashing up on shore, causing him to quickly shuffle backwards, bumping into Fiona, who wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close. They gently swayed back and forth, watching the waves and listening to the sound of the water.

After a moment, she spoke up again.

“Thanks for coming with me, Haz.” She said softly, kissing the top of his head. “Going on adventures is a lot more fun when you’re not by yourself…”

“Do you go on adventures like this a lot?” He asked, looking up at her.

“Yeah. I’ve always had trouble sleeping.”

“Because of bad dreams, or..?”

She paused, sighing a bit. “Sorta..? Sometimes, I get… I get scary thoughts, and it makes it hard for me to relax. Sometimes I just have to sit down in the living room for a little while to calm down, but other times, I have to get out of the house for a little while. It’s why I know to just leave a note for your dad.”

Harry frowned, hugging her arms a bit. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”

“It’s fine, sweetheart. My dad did it too.” Fiona chuckled. “...He was the one who always took me on little getaways like this… He’d find me up in the kitchen in the middle of the night, baking away, and once I was done with the oven, he’d take me out of the house for a couple hours. I always slept perfectly fine when I came back home.”

“Huh… What… What was keeping you up tonight?”

A silence fell between the two of them, the only sound in the air being the waves against the sand. Her arms wrapped a bit tighter around him, one of her hands coming up and gently caressing his cheek.

“...Nothing you gotta worry about, okay baby?” She whispered.

He frowned more, wanting to ask more questions, but her tone just sounded… Sad. And scared. Like whatever was keeping her awake was so bad it was legitimately scaring her.

So he stayed quiet, letting her hold him close. Like she was shielding him with her body, protecting him from whatever was scaring her.

She let out a small hum, kissing his head again.

“Hey… Remind me to take you to the East Finchley Cemetery someday soon.”

“...Why do you wanna take me to a cemetery?”

“So you can meet your grandparents and great-grandparents?”

Harry’s eyes widened a bit, and he looked up at her in surprise.

“...My grandparents?”

“Yeah, baby.” She chuckled, running her thumb along his cheek. “My Mum, Dad, Gran, and Grandpa. On my Dad’s side, at least. Mum’s family is buried in the Southern Necropolis, down in Glasgow.”

“...Can you tell me about your family, Mum?”

Fiona nodded a bit, a happy sigh escaping her. “Of course, baby… Who do you want me to start with?”

“Uh… How about your Grandpa? On your Dad’s side. You said that he was the one who opened The Crow’s Nest?”

“Yeah. He was.” She chuckled, squeezing him again. “Alright… Let me tell you all about Marius Black, my Grandpa…”

—

Harry woke with a start, sucking in a painful breath that quickly turned into harsh coughs, forcing him to sit up and hack into his elbow. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks as he curled up into a tight ball.

It was just a dream. A memory.

But god, he’d wanted it to be real more than he’d ever wanted anything before in his life.

He blinked a few times, trying to force the tears to stop as he slowly pushed the curtains on his bed back, wiping his eyes a few more times as he hiccupped.

“Dammit… Fuck…” He murmured, tilting his head back and taking a deep breath. His hand came up to clutch at his parents’ wedding rings, a new habit he’d developed after what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. Holding them was strangely comforting, like he was able to hold their hands when he was nervous.

Harry carefully climbed out of his bed, grabbing a dressing gown off of some of a coat rack and pulling it on, deciding that he wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep after the dream he’d just had.

He carefully crept out of his room, the gentle, dark magic that filled Malfoy Manor caressing his hands and leading him down the hall. He had only been there for a day, but from the minute he crossed the threshold, he felt like he was home.

He let the magic lead him down into the main parlor of the manor, a soft, flickering light catching his attention as he walked further in.

“...Narcissa..?” He asked quietly, accidentally startling the woman and making her spill a bit of her tea. After she composed herself, she smiled a bit.

“Hello, Harry… What are you doing awake?”

“I had a dream about my Mum.”

Narcissa nodded a bit, gently waving him over. He walked over, sitting on the sofa next to him, and before he could ask her what she was doing, a cup of tea was floating in front of him. He carefully took it out of the air and sipped it, relaxing a bit as he closed his eyes.

“...Was it a pleasant dream?” She spoke after a moment, and he nodded.

“Yeah… One of the times we went on a late night adventure.” Harry smiled a bit. “We went to Southend-on-Sea one night when neither of us could sleep. It was almost two hours away, but… It was really nice.”

“Really? I don’t believe I’ve ever been.”

“It’s a nice seaside town. Mum had a really bad fear of the ocean, so she never went in with me, but… It was one of our favorite places to go on nights where sleeping more than an hour or two was impossible.”

“Was that a regular occurrence?” Narcissa asked curiously.

“Maybe every two weeks?” He shrugged a bit. “I was just as bad, honestly… I still can barely get to sleep before midnight sometimes. I have to be dead on my feet to be going to bed before ten.”

She chuckled a bit at that, shaking her head. “...I’m the same way. Tonight’s… Tonight’s one of those nights. Sleep has evaded me, so I’ve retreated to the parlor to avoid waking Lucius… I’m just relieved that Draco sleeps like his father.”

Harry snickered a bit. Draco and Theo were the heaviest sleepers of his friend group, and trying to get them up in the morning on any day that wasn’t a Quidditch match was a task that was only possible by the bravest.

Which meant that Blaise had to get Draco up, and Harry had to get Theo.

“Yeah… Draco sleeps hard.” He murmured, sipping his tea again. “...Is there something specific keeping you awake?”

“Just… Thoughts that I would normally keep to myself.” She admitted softly. “Feelings of dread and fear. I almost never share them with anyone but Lucius, if I’m being completely honest with you, but… I have a feeling you understand what I mean.”

“Like something bad is going to happen, and you know there’s nothing you can do to stop it?”

“Exactly right.”

“That’s what would keep my Mum up at night too…”

Narcissa nodded a bit, hesitantly reaching out and wrapping her arm around his shoulders, hugging him close. He leaned against her, letting his eyes fall closed as he sighed.

“I miss them.” He whispered.

“I know.”

“...Does it ever get easier..?”

“Eventually.” She murmured. “Eventually, you wake up in the morning and no longer feel like you’re suffocating. You’ll be able to hear songs that make you think of them without wanting to burst into tears. Eventually… Thinking about them no longer rips your heart from your chest, but fills you with a nostalgic warmth.”

“That… That sounds really nice.”

“It is nice, Harry.” Narcissa reassured him. “And I can only hope that you’re able to reach that point someday soon.”

“I hope so too.”

Chapter Text

It needed to be done, but that didn’t mean it was going to be pleasant.

No, not pleasant at all.

Harry sat quietly at the breakfast table, picking at the pancakes and sausage that Teeky, Narcissa’s house elf, had made the two of them for breakfast. They’d been awake since the middle of the night, and after having gone through two pots of tea, decided to just bite the bullet and have some breakfast.

It had been a bit surprising to see Narcissa ask for such an… Undignified breakfast the first time, but she had explained to him that while yes, more fancy breakfasts were fun, a good plate of pancakes were the best after a sleepless night.

And he couldn’t find a way to fault her on that train of thought, especially since it had become their go to breakfast whenever they had a shared night of insomnia, which had happened at least seven times in the week and a half that he’d been with the Malfoys.

The sun hadn’t even fully risen yet, the only sign of it being the thin band of red slowly rising up over the horizon, and despite only getting three hours of sleep, Harry felt wide awake.

It was probably because of the task he had set out for himself later that day, but he didn’t particularly feel like thinking about going back home for the day.

He hadn’t been back since December, but he didn’t know if anyone had gone in to clean up after his family had been murdered, and he didn’t want the house to just… Sit and be filthy if no one had.

“...Harry?” Narcissa asked softly, pulling him from his own mind.

“Hm?”

“Are you sure you want to go today, love?” She gently set her fork and knife down, looking at him with pinched brows. “You can… You can just, take some time to relax. You’ve had a stressful year, and…”

“I… I need to do it.” Harry murmured. “If it hasn’t been done already, then I wanna be the one to do it. It’s my home, so… So I want to.”

She nodded slowly. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Do you want anyone to come with you?”

He shook his head, cutting off another bite of sausage and popping it into his mouth.

“No, thank you. I think… I think I need to do it by myself. Does that make sense?”

“It does.”

“Okay, good… I just… Ugh. Talking about it is hard.” He admitted.

“Then we won’t talk about it anymore.” Narcissa shrugged. “Just let me know when you would like to leave, and when you would like me to retrieve you.”

Harry nodded, offering her a small smile. “Thanks… So, uh… What is Lord-... Mr. Malfoy planning on doing with the others today?”

“If I remember correctly, Lucius is going to be taking the boys to be fitted for new dress robes. He wants to take them to a Wizengamot meeting later this month, and they need to be nicely dressed.”

“Eugh. Yeah… I think I’m fine sitting that out.”

“Understandably so. I love my husband dearly, but he is a pain to shop with. I haven’t gone shopping for robes with him in years because last time I did, he complained for half an hour about the fact that his shirt and pants were two different shades of black.”

He snorted, somehow perfectly imagining the man pitching a mild fit about it.

“It is a grave sin. Two different shades of black? Terrible.”

“I know.” Narcissa cracked a smile, sipping her tea, before a sigh escaped her. “...I think we’ve drank too much tea this morning. I can barely finish my breakfast.”

“Oh thank god. I can’t either.” Harry groaned. “It’s delicious but if I eat anything more I’m going to be sick.”

“I’ll ask Teeky to keep it warm for the boys, that way you can go and get ready. Teeky!”

With the familiar pop of elf apparition, the sweet looking house elf appeared at Narcissa’s side.

“Yes, Mistress Cissy? What can Teeky help with?” She asked softly, gently taking the woman’s hand in her small ones.

“Would you be a dear and keep breakfast warm for Lucius and the boys? Harry and I have some business to attend to today.”

“Of course, Mistress Cissy. Is this private business that Teeky shouldn’t be telling the Master Lucius?”

“He’s aware of our plans, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Yes ma’am, Mistress Cissy. Teeky be doing that right away.”

The house elf snapped her fingers, and the table was quickly cleaned up, allowing the two wixen to stand up.

“Thank you so much for breakfast, Teeky.” Harry said softly, walking over and kneeling down to her height, gently shaking her hands with his. “It was delicious. Some of the best pancakes I’ve ever had.”

Teeky blushed a bit, looking away. “Ohh, thank you, Young Master Harry. It was no trouble.”

“Still. Thank you.”

He stood back up carefully, watching the house elf pop away again, before he looked at Narcissa.

“I’m gonna go get dressed and stuff. Oh, and uh… I’m, honestly ready to go whenever.” He said softly. “Whenever you’re ready, I mean.”

She nodded, smiling a bit. “Then I’ll go prepare for the day as well. Meet me in the front parlor when you’re done, yes?”

“Sounds good.” He nodded firmly, before he turned and slipped out of the dining room, trotting up the stairs to his room and slipping inside.

All he needed to do was get dressed, grab the pieces of parchment that had a few spells written down on it, and the one that had all of his mum’s cleaning methods that he could remember. Then, he would meet Narcissa downstairs again.

He could do this. It wasn’t going to be that bad.

It was going to be fine.

—

Harry’s heart was in his throat as he stared up at The Crow’s Nest, a place that for almost seven years had been his home. His sanctuary. His safe place.

And now, just looking at it made him feel dizzy and shaky.

He’d been standing outside for almost fifteen minutes, Narcissa long gone after he reassured her that he would be completely fine on his own, and immediately regretting that decision when she apparated away.

He wasn’t ready for this.

He took a slow, shaky breath, blinking away a few tears as he began to walk into the side alley that led to the back gate, unlocking it with magic the way he always did and stepping into his backyard, clutching his bag even tighter as he walked.

The grass was overgrown, and the begonias hadn’t grown back. As he walked, the small gravel path crunched under his feet, and he could feel his breath shaking as he made his way to the door, grabbing his house keys out of his pocket and carefully unlocking it, pushing the door open bit by bit and wincing at the way it creaked.

The scent of dust was the first thing that hit him, before the faint, old blood smell did as well. And immediately after that, the sweet scent of rotting fruit and meat.

He wrinkled his nose a bit, closing his eyes tightly as he shut the door again, heading up the stairs and mentally preparing himself for the sight he was going to see.

When he reached the top of the stairs, he opened his eyes again, his breath catching.

He had, honestly forgotten how large of a bloodstain had been underneath his dad’s body.

The wood floors were stained from the old blood in a large blotch that also seemed to have soaked into the rug, turning the deep purple into a muddy brown. He could see the vague traces of his dad’s arms, where his head had been tilted, and the way the blood had splattered up onto the nearby wall.

Harry shuddered, slowly looking around the room, his eyes falling on the old stains on the wall, small droplets from when Gid was trying to stop Andersen from going after Fiona, the dragged hand across the floor from the Cruciatus Curse…

There was just so much, and it was the leftover.

He gulped, fighting back the bile that was rising in his throat as he slowly made his way to the stairs, walking up them and into Prue’s nursery.

The carpet was so much worse than the hardwood floors downstairs. The clumped together fibers, the deep stains.

And god, the bloody mattress and baby blanket.

A few tears slipped down his cheeks as he stared at the bloody blanket, walking over and gripping the side of the crib as he let out a small sob.

It wasn’t fucking fair.

None of this was fair.

He wanted to vomit, he wanted to scream, he wanted to cry.

He wanted to destroy things.

But he didn’t have time for that right now. He didn’t have time to destroy things, or scream, or vomit, or cry.

He needed to clean up the blood and dispose of what he couldn’t clean.

“Fuck… Fucking, shit.” Harry muttered, rubbing his face as his shoulders trembled. “God dammit…”

This was going to be harder than he thought.

He took a deep breath, running a hand through his hair before he grabbed a hairpin out of his pocket, quickly tying up his hair as he headed back down the stairs, deciding to leave the nursery until he physically couldn’t anymore.

Harry grabbed a pair of rubber gloves from under the sink- not the purple ones, those were his mum’s- and pulled them on, snapping the rubber against his arm and wincing a bit as he began to grab the different cleaning supplies out from under the sink.

Hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, baking soda, water, and bleach as a last resort.

He made his way over to the wall that had the most blood, setting down the supplies before heading back into the kitchen to grab a rag. Once he had that, he sat down in front of the bloodstain, soaking the rag with the vinegar and starting to rub it in, relaxing a bit when he saw the stain starting to lift.

It was taxing, and his arms were aching as he slowly scrubbed, but it was cathartic, in a way.

Scrub up. Scrub down. Scrub up. Scrub down.

Add more vinegar.

Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

And the stains would fade.

It was rhythmic, it was soothing.

Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.

Wash away the blood. Wash away the pain. No more blood, no more pain.

Up, and down. Until the blood is gone.

Once the wall was appropriately cleaned, with only mild discoloration that could probably be covered up later on with a new coat of paint, he moved on to the floor. Sprinkling baking soda and vinegar onto the stain and watching it bubble.

And he repeated the same actions once again.

Rhythmic scrubbing.

Not having to think about what he was doing. That he was cleaning his dad’s blood off the floor. That this was the last trace that he had been alive, that he’d been a real person who lived, and loved, and had been a part of his life.

Now, it was just a bloodstain on the floor that needed to be cleaned. Just like every other bloodstain in the house.

Harry didn’t know how long he’d been there, kneeling on the floor and scrubbing at the blood on the floor, but he was snapped out of his near trance-like state by a sudden sharp knocking on the door, making him suck in a sharp breath and nearly knock over the vinegar.

He wiped his brow with the part of his arm that wasn’t covered by a glove, releasing the air in his lungs with a shudder.

Slowly pushing himself up to his feet, he made his way back down the stairs, blinking slowly as he tried to come back into his body the rest of the way. He opened the door, his eyes widening a bit when he saw who was on the other side.

It was Neville.

“Hey, Harry…” His friend said quietly, offering him a small smile. “...Sorry for barging in, I just… I wanted to check on you.”

“Hey, Nev.” Harry croaked out, staring at him. “How did you know I was here?”

“Oh, uh… I floo called Malfoy Manor, and Lady Malfoy answered. I asked if you were home, because I wanted to come and check on you, but she said you weren’t there. I know that Contessa Zabini is in Germany right now because of some sort of diplomatic issue, and I doubted you were with Hermione this early in the summer, so… I figured that you were here.”

“Oh.”

They stared at each other for a moment, before Harry let out a soft snort, covering his mouth.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ve been, uh… I’ve been cleaning.” He said, stepping to the side to let Neville in. The other boy nodded a bit, slipping into the house and adjusting himself so he didn’t knock the tote bag on his arm into the wall as they went up the stairs. To his credit, he didn’t say a word about the half-cleaned bloodstain on the floor, or the distinct scent of Easter eggs in the air from the vinegar.

Instead, Neville set the tote bag on the kitchen table, took off his shoes, and turned to look at Harry.

“How can I help?” He asked softly.

Harry paused for a moment, his gaze softening as he looked at his friend.

“...You don’t have to do this, Nev. It’s okay.” He reassured him. “It’s not gonna be fun or… Even pleasant in the slightest.”

“I know. That’s why I came. I know you, Harry. You’re doing this the muggle way, which means you’re getting elbow deep in it, and it’s… It’s messing with your head. I didn’t want you to do it alone.”

He smiled weakly, walking over to Neville and hugging him tightly, fighting back tears as the two boys clung to each other. He buried his face in his neck, hiccupping softly as he closed his eyes.

“Thank you… I didn’t realize how terrible of an idea this was until I… Until I had already gotten started…” He whispered, gripping his friend’s shirt tighter as the air was squeezed out of his lungs.

“You don’t need to thank me, okay? This is what friends are for. And you hate asking for help. So… I’ll bring the help to you.”

Harry nodded, pulling away and wiping his eyes. “Thanks… Uh, what’s in the bag..?”

“Huh?” Neville asked, before his eyes went wide. “Oh! I stopped at something called an ASDA on my way here? I bought us some stuff.”

His friend smiled, starting to unpack the tote bag that he’d brought with him. Rubber gloves, two bottles of Coke, a bag of crisps, and a few bottles of cleaner.

“I had no idea what exactly to get, so I just… Got what seemed to be the best.”

“...You know what? That works.” Harry chuckled a bit, shaking his head and smiling at Neville. “Get those gloves on, and I’ll show you how to clean the muggle way, yeah?”

“You got it, Harry.”

—

They ended up having to throw away the mattress, and the stain on the nursery carpet wouldn’t quite go away, but…

The majority of the blood was gone, and that was better than anything else. Plus, Harry didn’t feel nearly as terrible as he had when he had first started cleaning, which was an even better outcome.

He and Neville had decided to take refuge out on the balcony that overlooked Crouch Street, keeping the slider door open to let the scent of bleach and vinegar out before they decided to tackle the, very likely, rotten food in the refrigerator and pantry.

They were sharing a bag of crisps, and sipping from their bottles of coke, just… Sharing a strange, comfortable silence.

“At least it’s not a million degrees out today.” Harry sighed a bit, looking up at the overcast sky. “Maybe we’ll get a bit of rain.”

“Hopefully.” Neville nodded. “We could use it.”

“Yeah…” He hummed a bit, leaning back against the glass. “...My Mum and Dad used to run outside when we’d get a good rainstorm. Just… Out in the backyard. They’d dance around, waltzing and stuff. Said it was a good thing, rain.”

“It is a good thing. It replenishes the earth and stuff. Helps plants grow.”

“I know, I just… I always think about that when it rains. Even that day in the forest with Lockhart, all I could think was… Was that the storm happening around us was the exact kind of weather that they would have loved.”

Neville nodded, leaning over and resting his head on Harry’s shoulder comfortingly, which he did in turn.

“...My Mum and Dad got married during a storm.” He said after a moment. “Gran once showed me pictures. Mum’s dress was caked in mud, but she had the biggest smile on her face… It’s my favorite picture of them.”

“You never talk about your parents much.”

“I don’t like to think about them very often. It’s… It’s hard.”

“Did they..?”

“No, no…” Neville shook his head, sitting up again with a sigh. “When… When I was a baby… They were tortured by some of You-Know-Who’s followers. Uh… I don’t like talking about it because… They’re in St. Mungo’s. The Janus Thickey ward.”

Harry’s eyes widened a bit. “Oh… Neville…”

“Yeah… It’s…”

“It fucking sucks?”

“Exactly.” He laughed a bit, shaking his head as he took another drink of his coke. “It sucks so much… Because it’s not like they’re dead, they just… They don’t know who they are. They don’t know who I am, and… And I hate it so much…”

Harry scooted closer to him, wrapping his arm around his friend’s shoulder and hugging him close, pressing a small kiss to the top of his head.

“...Sometimes, I wish they were actually dead. That way I… I wouldn’t feel so guilty for grieving…”

“...You’re not doing anything wrong, you know.” He muttered, hugging him even closer. “By feeling the way you do.”

“I feel like I am, though. It’s not like… It’s not like you, or Theo, or Blaise… You guys have actually lost your parents. Mine are still alive, they’re just…”

“They’re not there. And you can feel grief from that. Would you tell me I was wrong for grieving over my parents?”

“No, of course not.”

“Exactly.” Harry huffed. “You, Neville, have every right to feel just as much grief as the rest of us. Yes, our parents are physically dead, but you lost yours too.”

They sat there quietly for a moment, before Neville chuckled a bit.

“What?” He asked softly, looking down at him.

“I just… Think it’s funny how quickly you switched from being sad and tired to angrily defending my feelings. It’s really sweet.”

“Shut up.” Harry snickered, shaking his head as a smile formed on his face. He let out a soft sigh, rubbing his eyes a bit before he sat up properly. “Okay… We should go tackle the food. Putting it off just means it’ll be worse when we actually do it.”

“Good point.” Neville nodded, sitting up as well and carefully grabbing their drinks and snacks. “What should we do after that?”

“I, uh… I wanted to gather a few things up, and then lock the place down, but after that… What do you want to do?”

“Let me think about it?”

“Okay.”

The two boys smiled a bit, heading back into the significantly less chemically scented house and shutting the slider door, mentally preparing themselves to gather up the old, rotted food and dispose of it.

Which, he knew, would be far more unpleasant than cleaning the blood, if only by sheer gross factor.

And the smell that filled the air the second he opened up the fridge door proved that immediately.

—

“So… How are you locking up again?” Neville asked softly, standing at Harry’s side as he watched his friend lock the front door to his house. “I mean, like, beyond the key and stuff.”

They’d spent the last hour cleaning out all of the perishable foods from inside the house, leaving only some canned goods and a case of bottled water inside, and the smell of the rotten contents had left them both feeling disgusting.

So, after a shower each, and Harry spending the entirety of his friend’s shower going through the house and collecting the random little odds and ends that he wanted to take with him when he left again, they were back outside, getting ready to set off on… Some sort of adventure.

Whatever Neville wanted to do, really, because Harry was not in a good enough state to decide on something fun to do, since his idea of fun was laying face down on the floor for a few hours while not moving.

Or, as Narcissa had so eloquently put it? Corpse Time.

“Theo let me borrow one of his books on blood rituals.” Harry explained softly, grabbing the white chalk marker out of his bag, along with the parchment containing the spells and rituals he had written out. “This one… Is a sealing and warding ritual. Because it’ll be bound by my blood, I’ll be the only one who can adjust it and lift it later on.”

“What does it do?”

“If it works properly, it’ll keep anyone from getting in. Muggle, Wixen, literally no one will be able to get in.”

“Huh… Cool. Any way I can help?”

“Nah, I got it.” Harry shook his head, uncapping the marker and looking at the ritual he had sketched out of the book, beginning to copy it onto the door. It took a few minutes to get it exactly right, but once he did, he took a small step back, studying it for a moment.

Once he was sure it was exact, he nodded, capping the marker again and grabbing his knife out of his pocket, flicking it open and slicing open his palm, fighting to ignore the audible hiss that he heard Neville make from behind him. Once a few drops of his blood had soaked into the ground, Harry pressed his hand in the exact center of the ritual circle, watching as the white chalk glowed a brilliant green for a moment before the symbol sank into the wood of the door.

“Okay… That means it worked.” He hummed, wiping his knife off on his pants before sticking it back in his pocket. He looked down at the cut on his hand, staring at it for a moment as magic flickered in his palm, forcing the split apart skin back together.

“I will, never get used to that.” Neville muttered. “Watching you do wandless magic blows my mind.”

“And I always forget you guys aren’t used to me doing it.” Harry shrugged, shoving his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket again and smiling a lopsided grin at his friend. “So… Where are you thinking of going?”

“Uh… How about Diagon Alley?” He asked hopefully. “Noltie’s Botanical Novelties just got in a shipment of Norwegian Firefruit trees, and I was hoping they hadn’t sold out. I want to add one to the greenhouse.”

He nodded a bit. “Okay. Diagon Alley it is, then. One problem, uh… How do we… Get there?”

“The Knight Bus, of course!”

“The what?”

Neville looked at him for a moment, before he smacked his own forehead. “Oh, duh. Uh, the Knight Bus is, basically, emergency transportation for wixen. It’s an easier way for us to get around without needing to use a broom or apparate.”

“Oh, okay. How do we, uh… Y’know, summon it?”

“Follow me.” He replied, grabbing Harry’s hand and leading him out of the backyard, slowing down a bit so his friend could take one last look at the place that had been his home for so many years.

It wasn’t like he was leaving forever. He could come home at any time, after all.

He just… He needed a bit of time to come to terms with everything that happened.

He took a deep breath, turning forward again and following Neville further into the alley that connected to his backyard until they were on the side street behind the row of shops. His friend hummed a bit, grabbing out his wand and just… Sticking it straight out in front of him.

No spell, no incantation, no nothing.

Harry leaned forward, looking back and forth for a moment, a frown on his face.

“Uh, Nev..? What did you just-”

Suddenly, there was a deafening bang and a flash of bright light, forcing Harry to throw up his arms to shield his eyes against it.

“Fuck-!” He yelped, stumbling back and falling flat on his arse when he tripped over his foot. It took a moment for him to open his eyes again, and as soon as he did, he realized that he was staring up at a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus.

For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been hit on his head when he fell. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak directly to Neville, who was still standing upright.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board, and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this after-"

Stan looked between the two boys, before his gaze fell on Harry.

"What were you doin' down there?" said Stan, dropping his professional manner.

"Fell over.” He replied.

"'Choo fall over for?"

"I didn't do it on purpose.” Harry grumbled as he stood up again, brushing himself off. Neville smiled at him apologetically, before he looked up at the man again.

“We’d like to go to the Leaky Cauldron in London, if that’s alright.” He said softly. “I’m Neville, and this is my brother, Harry.”

Stan eyed them for a moment, his mind obviously whirling as he tried to figure out how these two boys who, for all intents and purposes, looked nothing alike, were brothers. Then, he shrugged.

“Fine by me. That’ll be twenty two sickles for you both.”

Harry nodded a bit, grabbing his coin purse from his bag and grabbing a couple galleons instead, handing them to Stan and watching as he stepped to the side. Neville climbed on first, after murmuring a soft thanks to him, and he followed close behind.

He looked around in fascination. There were no seats; instead, half a dozen brass bedsteads stood beside the curtained windows, and there were candles burning in brackets beside each bed, illuminating the wood-paneled walls.

It was unlike any bus Harry had ever seen in his life.

Neville led him over to one of the beds, plopping down onto it and patting the spot next to him, which Harry quickly took.

"Take 'er away, Ern." Stan hummed, sitting down in the armchair next to the elderly bus driver’s, who Harry surmised was named Ernie or something similar.

There was another tremendous bang, and the next moment Harry found himself flat on his bed, thrown backward by the speed of the Knight Bus and nearly being launched straight off the bed, only being saved by Neville quickly grabbing hold of him.

Pulling himself up, Harry stared out of the window and saw that they were now bowling along a completely different street. Stan was watching their faces with obvious enjoyment.

"This is where we was before you flagged us down." He said. "Where are we, Ern? Somewhere in Wales?"

"Aye." Ernie nodded.

"How come the Muggles don't hear the bus?" Harry almost shouted over the loud rumbling of the bus. Neville was about to answer him, but was cut off by Stan before he could.

"Them!" Stan sneered a bit, which made Harry bristle a bit. "Don' listen properly, do they? Don' look properly either. Never notice nuffink, they don'."

He looked over at his friend, pursing his lips a bit, to which Neville nodded.

They both just wanted this ride to be over as soon as possible.

Thankfully, their prayers were answered only a few minutes later, as the bus violently pulled up outside the familiar building that housed the Leaky Cauldron, causing both boys to let out sighs of relief.

Harry stood up first, bracing himself against the bed as he watched Neville get up as well, the two of them stumbling over to the exit as quickly as they could.

“Uhm… Bye, Stan. Bye, Ernie.” He said after he got out of the bus, offering the two men a slight wave. They waved back, and Stan gave the boys a mock salute before the bus was off again, another loud as hell bang signaling its disappearance.

They stood in silence for a moment, before Neville giggled.

“...I forgot how chaotic that thing actually is.” He said softly. “What the hell even was all that..?”

“Wizard fuckery.” Harry nodded solemnly. “Also, Anti-Muggle crap.”

“Yeah… Jeeze. Anyways… To Noltie’s?”

“Absolutely. Let’s go get your Norwegian Firefruit tree.”

And the two of them turned on their heels, heading straight into the familiar pub. Harry felt himself relax as he felt the ambient magic in the air embrace him, but at the same time… The lingering sense of despair that had been clinging to him since early that morning still hadn’t quite left.

He shook his head roughly, a soft huff escaping him as he continued to follow Neville, trying to ignore the feeling as best as he could.

This afternoon was going to be relaxing. It was going to be nice, and pleasant, and he wasn’t going to think about anything but Neville and his fruit tree.

Hopefully, it would be the perfect distraction. Even if it was just for a few hours. They both needed one, after the day they’d just had.

Chapter Text

Harry woke with a start for what felt like the thousandth time, his breath catching in his throat and tears brimming in his eyes.

His mind felt fuzzy and heavy, and he wasn’t fully in control of his limbs yet, but he had a single thought in his mind.

Marius Black, 1919-1977.

He knew that name, and he knew the dates. He just didn’t quite remember who Marius was, or why it was so significant.

But he knew it had something to do with his mum.

He pushed himself up out of bed, walking over to the desk and grabbing out one of his many notebooks, flipping it to the designated page and writing down everything he knew about Marius.

Every night, his dreams had something to tell him. At first, Harry honestly just thought he was going crazy from stress, but… When the same themes, the same names, continuously showed up in them, he decided that he wasn’t nearly as crazy as he’d once thought. Hence, the notebook, already halfway filled with things he’d gleaned from his dreams.

Strange names, strange memories, faces of people he’d never seen and spells he’d never heard of, mixing with memories he knew were his own.

He just needed to figure out where Marius Black fit into all of that. If it was his own memory, or the other memories.

On that note, he also needed to figure out where these other memories were coming from, and how he could stop them from invading his brain every single night.

At the very least, they were teaching him interesting spells.

Harry flicked his gaze over the notes again, rereading everything he’d written in half asleep stupors over the last few days, a small smile pulling at his lips as he realized just how strange it all seemed.

He shook his head, taking a deep breath before he set the notebook back down, walking over to his wardrobe and getting dressed.

He already had a plan set in motion for the day, he just… All he needed to do was put it in motion, which was looking to be the hardest part of the plan. Asking Narcissa about her extended family members made him anxious for some reason, even if he knew how important it was that he knew the truth.

Harry grumbled a bit, tucking his wand into its holster, and looking at himself in the mirror. He still hated looking at his reflection, and he wasn’t sure if, or when, that would ever go away. Just… Seeing his face, and his body, it… It made him feel sick.

One of his hands came up and tugged at a small chunk of his hair, a frown forming on his lips as he stared at it. It was getting long. Almost too long.

He hated it.

“...I’m cutting it.” Harry muttered, walking into the en suite bathroom and starting to dig through the drawers, looking for a pair of hair cutting scissors. After a moment, he remembered that he was currently in one of the guest rooms in Malfoy Manor, and that there likely wouldn’t be a pair of hair scissors in the bathroom.

He did, however, have his nice, sharp pocket knife.

With a bit of struggle, he managed to pull his knife out of his pocket and flick it open, before grabbing a chunk of his hair, pulling it taut, and pressing his knife against it. He took a deep breath, and then-

Slice.

Severed strands of hair fell to the floor, the remaining bit attached to his head falling back down and brushing against his cheek. Chunk by chunk, bit by bit, Harry chopped off his hair.

A pile of it was quickly forming on the floor, pitch black which, after a while, was accompanied by a hunk of white.

When he properly looked at his hair again, a small smile formed on his face.

It wasn’t perfect. It was choppy, and messy, and some of the strands lifted up in a slight curl, but it was shorter, just barely reaching his shoulders. In the back of his mind, he could hear his Mum calling it a ‘shag’ haircut, like she had done for his Dad a few years back.

He liked it. He really liked it.

Harry hummed a bit, scooping up the hair that had fallen onto the floor and dumping it into the trash, before he brushed the hair that had landed on his shoulders into the trash as well. Satisfied with his new look, he finally headed downstairs, running his hand through the shorter locks with a satisfied grin as he joined everyone in the dining room.

Theo was the first to look up, opening his mouth to greet his friend before his eyes bulged out of his head, staring at him.

“...You cut your hair.” He said after a moment, a blush rising onto his cheeks.

“I did.” Harry said proudly.

“It… It looks really good.”

“Thank you.”

Narcissa chuckled a bit, standing up and walking over to him, gently ruffling his hair. “It’s different, but I think it suits you very well, Harry.”

He smiled, leaning into her touch before he sat down at the table, causing Blaise and Draco to immediately start questioning him as to why he cut his hair, what he did it with, and how he actually got it to look decent with just a pocket knife.

Harry answered their questions for a while, before he looked over at Lord Malfoy, his eyes falling onto the copy of the Daily Prophet he was reading with a noticeably pale expression.

“Uh… Lord Malfoy?” He asked softly, accidentally startling the man. “Sorry- are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. I’m fine. Just… Just a bit of troubling news in the Prophet today.”

He frowned more, standing up a bit so he could see the newspaper.

-

Sirius Black, possibly the most infamous prisoner ever to be held in Azkaban fortress, is still eluding capture, the Ministry of Magic confirmed today.

"We are doing all we can to recapture Black," said the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, this morning, "and we beg the magical community to remain calm."

Fudge has been criticized by some members of the ICW and the IFW for informing the Muggle Prime Minister of the crisis.

"Well, really, I had to, don't you know," said an irritable Fudge. "Black is mad. He's a danger to anyone who crosses him, magic or Muggle. I have the Prime Minister's assurance that he will not breathe a word of Black's true identity to anyone. And let's face it-who'd believe him if he did?"

While Muggles have been told that Black is carrying a gun (a kind of metal wand that Muggles use to kill each other), the magical community lives in fear of a massacre like that of twelve years ago, when Black murdered thirteen people with a single curse-

-

“...Sirius Black? Like, my godfather?” Harry asked, raising a brow. “I didn’t know he was in Azkaban. He killed muggles?”

The expression on Lord Malfoy’s face was, in a single word, gobsmacked. He stared at the boy in front of him like he’d suddenly grown a second head, and when he looked around the table, he realized that everyone but Narcissa was staring at him like that.

“...What?”

“You… Know who Sirius Black is to you?” Draco asked quietly. “How..?”

“Oh, when I went to Diagon Alley the first time, I had one of those… Uh… Oh, inheritance tests done? It listed Sirius as my godfather. I just thought he was like, dead or something. Not in wizard jail.”

“It’s… Not exactly a story to tell at the breakfast table.” Lord Malfoy said slowly, folding up the newspaper and setting it to the side. “Uh… Harry, you look like you’re getting ready to head out. What are your plans for the day?”

A blatant subject change. Harry frowned a bit, but sighed. He didn’t really want to press the issue with everyone around.

He could probably ask Narcissa later.

“I actually wanted to go and visit my parents today.” He said softly. “I… Haven’t actually been to their graves yet. Mrs. Zabini took care of everything for me, and they didn’t want a funeral, so she made sure they were buried with the rest of my Mum’s family.”

Narcissa perked up a bit at that, looking over at him. “Is that so? Would you mind if I accompanied you?”

“I was hoping you would, actually.”

“Wonderful. Boys, would any of you like to come?” She asked the other three boys, who still had deer in the headlights expressions on their faces. It took them a moment, but Blaise was the first one to speak.

“I… Actually am going to spend some time with Mamma today.” He admitted softly. “She’s back from Germany, and she wants to spend a day at the beach.”

“Oh, tell her I say hello.” Narcissa smiled. “Theo? Draco?”

“Actually, Narcissa… I was hoping it would just be you and I. I have some questions I wanted to ask you.” Harry chuckled a bit, seemingly surprising the woman.

“Oh! Well, that’s perfectly fine.” She nodded. “When would you like to leave?”

“Whenever you’re ready. I’ll go wait in the parlor.”

He stood up, nodding to his friends as he headed out to the parlor. A moment later, Theo’s magic rushed over him, and his friend’s arms wrapped around him from behind, before he heard a soft whisper.

“Be safe, okay?” Theo murmured against his ear.

Harry felt his face heat up at the contact, before he nodded. “Uh… Yeah. I will be.”

His friend pulled away after giving him one final squeeze, heading back to the dining room and leaving Harry reeling for a moment, his heart pounding in his chest as he stared after him.

What… Was that..?

He let out a shuddering breath, finally making his way into the parlor and leaning against the wall. His stomach was flip flopping, and he felt… Oddly giddy.

There was time to unpack that, and how it made him feel, later. He had a job to do today, and he wasn’t going to get distracted.

At least, he hoped not.

—

East Finchley Cemetery was a place that was oddly comforting for Harry. In a way that he wasn’t sure how to explain. Maybe it was the fact that he’d been coming here every other month since he was nine years old, but he just… Felt safe there.

And, the knowledge that this is where his parents were. This is where his sister is. His grandparents, all these… People who he loved and cared for, even if he hadn’t been able to meet them.

They were here, which meant that this place was safe.

Narcissa followed close behind him as he led her through the rows of gravestones, knowing the way to the family plot by heart. Memories of following Fiona as she strode across the same path they were traveling now flowed through his mind, of the large bouquets of flowers that she would carry, and of the songs she would hum and sing as she brought him to meet the rest of his family.

Now, there was another grave to bring flowers to, something that they both had insisted on doing.

Harry adjusted his bouquet so he could look around, taking a sharp left and relaxing a bit when he saw the familiar headstones, and the brand new one.

He stopped in front of the one he was most familiar with first, kneeling down and placing two of the flowers on the grave. His eyes flickered over the names that he knew like the back of his hand.

“Hi Gran. Hi Gramps.” Harry said softly, brushing a bit of dirt off of their headstone. “Sorry it’s been so long. I’ve been busy with school, and… And everything that happened with Mum and Dad.”

He could feel Narcissa kneeling down behind him, but he didn’t pause for a moment.

“...It’s terrifying, y’know? Figuring life out without them? I uh… I’m about to have my first birthday without them, and… And I really don’t know how I’m going to deal with that. Uh… This is Narcissa Malfoy, she was a really good friend of Mum’s, and… She’s our family too.” He smiled a bit. “I’m not a hundred percent sure how we’re related, but we are, and it’s… It’s cool. It really is.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Narcissa said softly, placing flowers from her own bouquet down. “...I’m happy to know that Fiona and Gideon were greeted by a loving embrace when they crossed over.”

Harry nodded a bit, going to speak again but stopping when he felt his voice catch in his throat.

That… That was both the best and worst thing he had ever heard. His parents weren’t alone on the other side, but at the same time… That meant he had no family related to the Hartfords.

Narcissa reached out, gently rubbing his back as she offered him a small smile.

“Harry, darling… I’m going to go and look at some of the other graves.” She said softly. “That way you and your parents can have some time together.”

“O-okay.” He managed, wiping his eyes and watching as she stood up, heading over to one of the other nearby graves. He took a deep breath, rising to his feet as well and heading over to the newest, and largest, headstone of the bunch.

His eyes fell onto the names engraved in stone, the carvings burning into his eyes and making tears well up in them once again.

He whimpered a bit, sitting down and just… Staring at the headstone for a moment, setting the bouquet down on the freshly grown grass and trying to steady his breathing.

This was so much worse than he thought it would be.

“Hi, guys…” Harry whispered. “...I miss you. I miss you so much. Things have… Things haven’t been the greatest since you died. Uhm… The men who killed you? They’re, they’re dead. Lockhart is too. That one was me. The guys who actually, like, did the killing were executed. I… I watched it happen. It was gross. I really hated it, but I wanted to make sure it was done properly.”

“I’ve been staying with Narcissa.” He added. “I’m gonna spend some time with Mrs. Zabini soon as well, she was just, uh… She was doing Contessa business in Germany, but she came back… Luna’s going hunting for the North American Sky Screecher, and I have no fucking idea what that is, but I think she’s gonna find it. Lue’s great like that…”

He paused, suddenly finding himself at a loss for words. What was he supposed to say?

How honest was he supposed to be with the dead?

“...I think about joining you guys a lot. Just… Ending it all. I feel like it would be easier. I cry, all the time, but I haven’t started destroying things like Mum always did when she was in a bad way. I just… Fuck, I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t see the point. I don’t… I really don’t know what to do. I wish you were here. You guys… You guys always knew what to do, and even if you didn’t, you’d figure it out.”

Harry sighed, rubbing his face. “...I cut my hair today. It was impulsive, and it’s choppy as all hell, but… I feel like myself a little bit. Less like a weird… Grief monster… And… I really don’t have much else to talk about. Jeeze… I must look like a crazy person right now.”

He brought a hand up to his necklace, gripping the rings tightly and relaxing a bit when he felt a warmth spread through them. It wasn’t the warmth that came with warm hands holding cold metal.

No, it felt more like another hand was wrapping around his own.

“...You probably heard what I told Gran and Gramps… About how we’re related to Narcissa..? I’m trying to figure out exactly how we are… I’m hoping to ask her to take me to Gringotts today so I can do another inheritance test… See if that can help us figure it out.”

He trailed off, a sigh escaping him.

“That’s… I love you guys. So much. I hope… I hope you knew that, when you were… I hope you knew just how much I love you. Because it was… It was a lot.”

Harry slowly stood up, smiling sadly.

“I’ll come back and visit soon, I promise. I’ll tell you all about my classes and stuff. I’ll see you later, I love you.”

He carefully made his way back over to Narcissa, who was staring at the headstone in front of her with a shocked expression. He was about to ask her if she was alright, but then he saw exactly what she was looking at.

Marius and Victoria Black’s grave.

Marius. Fucking. Black.

“...Great Uncle Marius…” Narcissa said quietly. “He was my grandfather’s younger brother… He was a squib. No one in the family knew what happened after his father threw him out of the house.”

“...He was my great grandfather.” Harry said, crouching down next to her. “Mum’s grandpa.”

She let out a soft, shuddering breath, covering her mouth with her free hand.

“Harry… Do you… Would you come to Gringotts with me? There’s something I want to see.”

“I was hoping to ask you that very same question. What do you want to see, though..?”

“Sirius is your godfather, and you are a male descendent of the House of Black.” She explained softly. “A direct male descendant, due to Sirius, and… There’s just something I need to check, if you would humor me.”

“Yeah, of course.” Harry replied softly, reaching out and grabbing her arm as she stood up. Before he could question her further, however, she apparated them both away, landing in Diagon Alley and in front of Gringotts. He stumbled a bit, having to grab onto her more for balance, and stared up at the large, marble building.

He hoped the goblins would have the answers that the both of them were seeking, and knowing the goblins, they almost definitely would.

—

“Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice, Steelclaw.” Narcissa said softly as they followed behind the familiar goblin. It had been a bit chaotic actually getting in to see him, but Harry was, honestly, just wanting to deal with a familiar face at that moment.

And he trusted Steelclaw. The goblin had helped him his first time at Gringotts two years ago, and he felt like he could legitimately trust him with something like this.

And with whatever Narcissa needed to know as well.

“Of course, Lady Malfoy, Mr. Hartford. We here at Gringotts are happy to help our most prestigious clients.” Steelclaw nodded, leading them into a similar styled office room like the one they’d gone to on his first visit to the bank, closing and locking the door behind them before heading to sit behind the desk. Harry pulled Narcissa’s chair out for her, and she looked at him with a raised brow for a moment before sitting down.

The very second he sat beside her, he heard the goblin’s voice once again.

“Mr. Hartford. I have to say… I’m deeply sorry for your loss.” He said gently. “Your parents were a pair of extraordinarily kind muggles, and they made a wonderful impression upon us. It’s very rare that muggles don’t look upon us with fear or disgust, and we did not see a trace of either in your parent’s faces. We were also devastated to hear of the death of your sister. A child, an infant no less, should never be caught in the crossfire like that.”

“Thank… Thank you, Steelclaw.” He managed to say after a moment. “It means a lot to hear you say that. My parents liked you quite a bit, just so you know. They thought you were rather pleasant.”

“That warms my heart to hear.” Steelclaw smiled. “Now… What can I do for the two of you?”

Harry turned to look at Narcissa, tilting his head to let her know that she could go first. She nodded a bit, looking back at the goblin.

“I understand that, two years ago, you did an inheritance test on Harry to validate his identity?” She asked softly.

“That we did, my lady.”

“We would like for you to do a Lordship Inheritance Test.”

Harry blinked a few times and, to his credit, was not the only one who was surprised. Steelclaw was studying them both with apprehension, but nodded slowly.

“I see… And for what reason is the Lordship Inheritance Test necessary?”

“I believe Harry may be the Heir of the most Noble and Ancient House of Black, and I would like him to be able to claim that title if so.”

“Wait, wait-” Harry sat up. “I’m not… I’m really not into this whole, heirship and lordship stuff. Why do I need to do it?”

Steelclaw was the one who answered this time. “If you claim your heirships, Mr. Hartford, that means that others are unable to claim them, taking what rightfully belongs to you and your family away. If Lady Malfoy’s claims are correct, then that means you would have two very noble and ancient houses to become Lord of.”

“But I don’t want to be a lord? That… That involves like, government stuff, right?”

“Only if you want it to.” Steelclaw said softly. “Your biological father, James Potter, was Lord Potter after his father’s death. He never once used his Lordship for political reasons, and only used it to help support and protect his friends.”

He bit the inside of his cheek, bouncing his leg a bit as he thought it over.

He really, really had no interest in the lordships and politics of the wizarding world, but… The ability to use that power to protect the people he loves most would be useful.

A part of him knew that most of his friends were likely heirs to other lordships, but he didn’t know exactly how archaic some of the wizarding laws were, so he didn’t know if Daphne and Luna would be eligible for something like that.

And, he reasoned, if he did have enough power… Maybe he could find a way to keep Theo from having to go back to his father.

“...Okay. Let’s do it.” Harry nodded firmly, lifting his head. Steelclaw hummed, snapping his fingers and summoning another goblin, much like he had the very first time the two had met, this one carrying another large piece of parchment. The goblins unrolled it, revealing a large, silver dagger, which Steelclaw picked up.

He held his hand out to the goblins, wincing just a bit when his palm was sliced open, spilling blood onto the parchment which immediately soaked in and began to form into a delicate, looping script.

Once the necessary amount of blood had been given, the wound on his hand sealed up again, and he brought it to his chest protectively, watching the results of the test write themselves out. He knew the first half of the results, as they were the same as his inheritance test back when he was eleven.

But after that, it was all brand new.

-

-

Harry stared blankly down at the parchment, his mind reeling for a moment as he read the words.

“...What the fuck?” He asked after a moment, looking up at the two people in the room with him. “Why are there four of them?”

“It appears, Mr. Hartford, that you’ve inherited four heirships.” Steelclaw hummed, looking over the parchment. “This isn’t exactly unusual, although half of your heirships have been dormant for centuries.”

“...All I wanted to do was figure out where the fuck my parents wedding rings came from.” Harry laughed a bit, rubbing his face. “Oh my god… What the fuck…”

“We can still look over the wedding rings for you, Mr. Hartford. However… Would you like to claim your heirships today?”

He paused for a moment, looking over at Narcissa before he sighed. “You know what? Why not? I’m already here, we already know that I’m gonna be a lord four times over, might as well go for it…”

“Wonderful. I’ll have the rings brought here for you. Now… You mentioned that you wanted a set of wedding rings looked at?”

“Yeah.” Harry said, taking off his necklace and handing it to Steelclaw, allowing Narcissa to explain the strangeness about them.

His mind began to wander, then, drifting away as he thought about exactly what was happening.

For all the shit he had given Voldemort in the Chamber of Secrets only a few months ago about not wanting anything to do with lordships or family names, it was almost like the universe was laughing at him by giving him four bloody lordships.

One of them, which was given to him by his godfather, escaped murderer Sirius Black.

Which, at this point, wasn’t even the strangest thing that’s happened to him in his life.

…That’s, probably not a good thing.

Harry sighed, sitting up again and sucking in a sharp breath when he felt a slight jolt of magic running up his spine. It was foreign, and unfamiliar, and for a brief moment, it made him nauseous.

Then, a large tome which carried four ring boxes slammed onto Steelclaw’s desk, startling him and Narcissa so badly that the goblin launched Harry’s necklace up into the air. Without hesitation, he shot his hand out, summoning it back to him and relaxing when he put the necklace back on around his neck.

“So… These are the rings?” He asked, looking at the four boxes.

“Yes, they are.” Steelclaw nodded, carefully opening each of the boxes. Harry studied each one, tracing their magic until he felt like he knew exactly which family each ring belonged to.

Each of the rings were massive, had an antique iron setting, something he only recognized because of how much his mum would gush about antique iron settings. They were her favorite kind of jewelry, mostly because of how gothic it looked.

The Potter ring had a large ruby set in it, with the face of a lion carved into it. The magic that swirled from it smelled like cinnamon and felt like a forest fire, ready to burn everything in its path just to protect the one who wore it.

The Black ring was, fittingly, a black opal, but this one had what looked to be a constellation carved into it, which was, upon closer inspection, the Leo constellation. Its magic was cold, almost death like, and yet it held an anger deep within it. An anger of hurt, betrayal, and loss. A feeling that he was far too familiar to him at this time.

The Peverell ring, however, had an opaque, green stone that Harry couldn’t quite place, along with a strange symbol carved into it, like a triangular eye. He’d never seen it before, but the magic attached to it felt even older than the magic of Hogwarts.

Even older than the magic of the Chamber of Secrets.

And the final ring, the Slytherin ring, was the most familiar magic of them all. It felt like the basilisk, like the cool, damp dungeons that Harry found solace in at school. It smelled like brewing potions, the fresh scent of cut herbs and ground unicorn horn.

It was like a little piece of Hogwarts had come to him.

Harry sighed a bit, reaching out and grabbing each ring, studying them for a moment before placing two on each hand, his index and middle fingers, respectively. Slytherin and Black on his right, Potter and Peverell on his left. A small rush of magic went up his spine as each one slipped on, making him shiver every time.

Once they were on, however, he felt the rings on his neck heat up once again, as well as the Black heir ring.

Steelclaw looked over at him, smiling a bit. “Heir Potter-”

“Please just stick with Mr. Hartford, Steelclaw.” Harry smiled a bit, shaking his head. “If you really want to be formal, Heir Hartford is fine, but… Please, just stick with Hartford.”

“Heir Hartford. If you’d like, I can explain what being an heir of a Noble and Ancient House entails, and then show you all known properties and lands now in your name, and I can answer any questions you may have about it as well.”

He nodded slowly, looking over at Narcissa, who set her handbag in her lap and crossed her ankles, getting comfortable so she could stay and help him get through this.

“...And can we go over my parent’s rings?” He asked softly.

“That, will be the first thing we do.” Steelclaw nodded.

“Okay. Let’s do this, then.” Harry sighed, leaning forward so he could properly look Steelclaw in the eyes.

This, was not exactly how he had planned to spend his afternoon, if he was being honest.

At least he would get the answers he needed, maybe even more.

Chapter Text

Harry let out a groan as he walked into Blaise’s room, heading straight for his friend’s bed and flopping face first into it, the action not even causing the other boy, who was laying on the other side, to move.

Instead, he reached over, gently carding his fingers through Harry’s choppy hair, humming as he flipped to the next page of his book.

“How are you feeling?” He asked softly.

“Like ass.”

“That’s fair. Are you enjoying that book you got from Gringotts?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Want to talk about what you’ve learned?”

“...Is that okay?” Harry asked a bit, turning his head to look at Blaise.

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to hear.” His friend hummed, saving his page with a bookmark and setting it to the side before he slid down on the bed, laying on his back and turning his head to face the other boy. “Italian Lordships are different from British ones, although I do still have an heir ring. I’m honestly curious.”

“Okay… So, the book they gave me is, really simply called ‘Lordships and Bloodlines of Wizarding Britain’, and there isn’t an author listed, which I think is weird.” Harry began. “But, basically, it explains the history of where Lordship rings come from. Some woman named Theophania Selwyn created the first three like, over a thousand years ago, before even Hogwarts was founded.”

“I’ve heard of her. Tiffany Selwyn, is I think how she signed off on things.”

“Isn’t that weird? Tiffany being short for Theophania? Anyways. Basically, each ring has a basic set of enchantments, and then further enchantments are added over the years, depending on what each family wants or needs their rings to have. Like, the Potter ring?” He held up his left hand, pointing at the red ruby that stood out brilliantly against his skin. “Detects poisons. Apparently, the Potters were these brilliant potioneers. My biological grandfather invented Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion.”

Blaise paused, a soft chuckle escaping him. “Okay, you have to admit that’s kinda cool.”

“I think it’s pretty cool, yeah. But, it’s stuff like that. Apparently, it also has an affinity for fire magic, which makes sense. Whenever I focus on it, it just… It feels like fire.”

“Have you figured out anything about the other rings?” He asked, reaching down and grabbing Harry’s hands, studying each of the rings curiously. “Like, Slytherin and Peverell?”

“Not yet. Outside of the very basics, which is really just… The same as every heir ring. Added Occulumency, basic shields when you get attacked, and identifying you when you enter certain areas.”

“Huh… Black?”

“I saw one note in the book that it might be a portkey?” Harry shrugged, looking at the ring. “Apparently it’s got some sort of password to activate it. I have no idea what it could be, though. Oh, and it goes fucking insane when it’s around dark magic, so I’ve had to just start tuning it out because it won’t stop, like… Bubbling? It’s so bizarre.”

“Damn. I wonder where it would take you? Also? Ew.”

He shrugged a bit, a small chuckle escaping him as he scooted closer to Blaise, closing his eyes and relaxing a bit. Being around his friend was just… Comforting. Especially after how stressful it’s been the last few days.

The constant coverage of Sirius Black’s escape, trying to understand his family lineage and why these specific rings were thrust upon him, and just trying to let himself rest a little bit before the new school year began was, somehow, the most stressful of all.

But, Blaise had a way of making his brain shut down for a little while, like he instinctively knew that as long as his friend was nearby, he didn’t need to be afraid of anything. There was no need for stress, no need for fear, no need for anything except for peace and relaxation.

He valued that time so much more than his friend could ever understand.

Harry hummed a bit, rolling onto his back and resting his head on Blaise’s chest, letting the other boy continue to run his hands through his hair as he closed his eyes. He held his hands up a bit, twisting them in a motion that was entirely muscle memory, allowing the balls of frozen light to form in them and begin to float. He did it until his arms got tired, slowly opening his eyes again and looking up at the dozens of tiny, star-like lights that floated around the room.

“Hm… I guess I can make way more as long as they’re small.” He said softly, grabbing his wand and starting to move the ice lights around, forming them into constellations and other star patterns with a small smile on his face.

“Aaand… There’s Leo.”

Blaise looked over, a small chuckle escaping him. “Oh, that’s cool… You should start doing that for our Astronomy study sessions. It might be easier for everyone to understand if you do.”

“I don’t see what’s so difficult about Astronomy. Genuinely. It’s so easy.”

“Says the boy raised by a daughter of the Blacks.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Harry asked, raising a brow.

“...Haven’t you ever noticed that you and Draco are the best at Astronomy, out of all of us?”

Harry paused for a moment, frowning a bit. He had noticed that in the past, but he’d never actually made the connection before. He and Draco had always just been, the ones who were good at Astronomy. They helped the others out as much as they could, but at the same time, it’s not like they were geniuses at the subject.

“Uh, I guess?” He offered.

“Dude.” Blaise sighed. “...The Blacks, except for Lady Malfoy, are all named after the stars.”

“Oh. Oh!”

“Merlin’s balls, Harry. For someone as smart as you, you’re dense.”

“I’m not that bad.” He snorted. “I just can’t see directly in front of my face.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

“Literally and figuratively, mind you.”

“Wait. You’re farsighted?”

“Yeah. It’s why I’m so insistent on sitting up next to the board, and why I shove my face into books.”

“That… Explains so much?”

Harry stared at him for a moment, before a giggle erupted out of him. That set Blaise off as well, and after a moment, they both descended into a fit of laughter, having to turn away from each other to try and stop, because every time they looked at each other, the giggles came back a thousand times worse.

The sound of their laughter eventually drew the other two boys into the room, both Draco and Theo staring at them like they’d gone completely insane.

“What… Is so funny?” Draco asked quietly.

“Harry- Harry’s farsighted!” Blaise cackled, slapping a hand over his mouth, which set the boy in question off even worse than before, sending him rolling off the bed.

Theo shook his head, a small smile on his face.

“Draco? They’ve gone mad.”

“I can see that.”

Then, like a virus spreading through a school, Theo began to giggle as well, covering his mouth to try and stifle it as he watched his friends lose their minds. Draco rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop his own laughter from escaping him at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

Eventually, it all died down, and all four boys were left sprawled out across Blaise’s bed and the floor, chests heaving for air as they tried to calm down from their laughter. None of them were looking at each other for fear of starting up another round, but, they were at least calming down.

“What… Were we even… Talking about… Before that..?” Harry panted, rubbing his face as a smile pulled at his lips. His chest and cheeks hurt from how hard he had been laughing, but at the same time, it felt… It felt good. He hadn’t laughed like that in a long time.

“Your… Heir rings…” Blaise replied, equally as out of breath. “Portkey…”

“Oh! Oh that's right!” He gasped, sitting up and whipping his head towards Draco, who jolted at the sudden movement. “Draco. Black Family Portkey Password. What do you think it is?”

“What?” He asked in confusion, sitting up a bit. “Uh… I mean, there’s always the family motto? Toujours Pur?”

Harry nodded a bit, looking at the black opal ring and sending a bit of magic down into it.

“Okay… Uh… Toujours Pur.” He said softly, closing his eyes tightly as he waited for something to happen.

And when nothing did, he frowned.

“No… That’s not it…” He frowned more. “How do I activate you..?”

He stared down at the ring for a moment, focusing on the magic within it. It took a moment for it to connect properly, but then, clear as day, like a voice had spoken right into his ear, he knew what the password was.

“Patmol.” He whispered.

Harry’s eyes widened as light flashed from the ring, causing a strange, tugging sensation at his navel, before he was ripped straight out of Blaise’s bedroom and into darkness.

Then, before he could fully process what was happening, he was falling flat on his ass in the middle of a street, nearly cracking his head into the pavement in the process.

With a groan, he pulled himself up, looking around for a moment before he rushed across the street, deciding to get out of the middle of it for safety reasons.

He was in London, he could tell that much, but exactly where, he didn’t know.

Then, a gentle pull, like someone was beckoning him up towards the houses he was standing next to.

Harry looked up, his eyes widening slightly as he watched a door materialize in front of him, right between doors Eleven and Thirteen.

Number Twelve.

Harry walked up the worn stone steps, staring at the newly materialized door. Its black paint was shabby and scratched, with a silver door knocker in the form of a twisted, angry serpent. There was no keyhole or letterbox like a normal house would have, but… He knew how to unlock it.

He slowly pressed his hand up against the door, allowing some of his magic to flow into it, and shivering as he felt the building’s magic flow back into him.

A voice, not unlike the one he heard at Hogwarts, filled his mind.

“Who… Are you..?” It asked quietly. “You… Who wears the ring of the House of Black…”

He hesitated for a moment before he replied.

“I am Harry Hartford. I am Heir Black.”

The house shuddered, more of its magic reaching out and caressing him gently, running through his hair and over his face, like it was checking over every inch of him to make sure he was who he said he was.

“...You are… You are, my Heir… Welcome home, my Heir… You are home… Here… At Grimmauld… You are home…”

Harry smiled a bit, moving to pull his hand away, before the silver door knocker struck out, its fangs sinking into his arm and drawing both blood and a pained yelp from him. The serpent’s fangs weren’t stuck in him for long, only a few seconds, but it still hurt like hell.

It pulled away, returning to its state as a door knocker, and the door slowly opened, revealing the inside of the house as the wound on his arm slowly healed. Harry stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust, and a sweet, rotting smell.

Like an old, abandoned building mixed that someone had died in.

The dark magic that permeated the air washed over him as he entered the house, shutting the door behind him and taking a deep breath. Amazingly, his ring didn’t start going insane, likely due to the fact that this was its home. This was where the ring wanted to be.

He moved to grab his wand, mentally cursing himself for forgetting it on Blaise’s bed, before he held his hand out, summoning another ball of light to illuminate the entry hall.

He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobweb covered chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. The sudden illumination startled him a bit, making him shake his own light out as he studied the hall, slowly walking down it.

The house felt haunted, in a way, but in an… Oddly good way.

It was quiet, and peaceful, somewhere that obviously wasn’t checked in on very often.

Somewhere he could use for… Something. He didn’t know what quite yet, but it could be used for something.

Then, he tripped over what he assumed was an umbrella holder shaped like a large monster’s foot that made a horrific crashing sound, and he heard the sharp yanking of curtains, like his Dad used to do to wake him and his Mum up when they would fall asleep on the sofa.

His head snapped up, his eyes going wide as he saw a woman in front of him.

Well, not an actual woman. A painting of one.

The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed, and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awoke and began to yell too, so loud that Harry flinched, slamming his hands over his ears to try and muffle the angry sounds.

“Who dares break into the home of the most Noble and Ancient House of Black?!” She shrieked. “I’ll have you killed for this! Trespasser! Scum!”

“I’m not a trespasser!” Harry shouted back, his hands still clamped over his ears. “My ring let me in! The house let me in!”

His cries fell on deaf ears, however, as the woman continued to shriek horribly. That is, until the house itself sent a rush of magic towards her portrait, silencing her and forcing her curtains shut once again. He shuddered in relief, slowly pulling his hands away from his ears as he looked up at the ceiling.

“...Thank you.” He said softly, letting his eyes close as his head fell forward again.

The sound of elf apparition startled him, forcing him to open his eyes once again, his gaze landing on an absolutely ancient looking house elf, whose eyes were firmly on the Black Heir ring secured around his right pointer finger.

He looked very old, older than any of the house elves Harry had seen up until that point. His skin seemed to be several times too big for him and though he was bald like all house-elves, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of his large, batlike ears. His eyes were a bloodshot and watery gray, although they seemed to be watery with tears, rather than just watery.

“Heir Black…” The house elf whispered reverently, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks for a moment before he looked up at Harry, dropping into a deep bow. “...Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black… May Kreacher know his new young master’s name..?”

“Uhm… Harry.” He managed to say after a moment, kneeling down to Kreacher’s height and holding his hand out. The elf’s eyes widened, and as he stood again, he gently took Harry’s hand in his own, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. “Kreacher… Can you tell me what this place is..?”

“This here is Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. Home of the most Noble and Ancient House of Black.” Kreacher nodded. “Where the Master, Mistress, and Young Masters once lived. Now it is only Kreacher… And the new Young Master.”

Harry nodded slowly, giving the elf’s hand a small squeeze. This… Wasn’t the strangest thing that had ever happened to him, so he was just going to roll with it.

He smiled a bit at the house elf. “Well then, Kreacher… Would you mind giving me the grand tour?”

Kreacher grinned, an expression that was almost a perfect mix between utter joy and murderous intent, and began to gently lead Harry through the house.

He might as well make the most of this new sanctuary he’s been blessed with, after all, and learn everything he can about it.

—

“MOTHER-!” Draco’s panicked shout echoed off the walls of the manor, causing Narcissa to choke on her tea, coughing forcefully to try and force the tea back out of her lungs as she stood from her seat on the sofa.

“What? What’s happened?!” She asked through coughs, watching as three of the boys under her care came sprinting into the sitting room, all out of breath and terrified.

“Harry.” Blaise managed to say.

“Portkey. Black ring.” Theo added.

“Where does it go?” Her son finished off, his eyes wide and teary.

She froze for a moment, her mind racing as she wracked her memories for just where the hell that damn portkey led to.

Regulus used it rather often back in the day, always slipping out of meetings unnoticed and disappearing for days on end. He was always wearing the ring, too.

That was the reason they knew he’d died, after all, because the ring re-materialized back in Gringotts.

Then, like a flash of lightning, it hit her.

“Grimmauld Place. The ring is a portkey to Grimmauld Place.” Narcissa whispered, looking at the boys. “He’s fine. I’ll go and get him. You don’t need to worry.”

“I’ll come with you.” Theo said firmly. “What if he’s not fine? He might need-”

“If he’s wearing the ring, which he obviously is, then he’ll be fine. Grimmauld Place is a sanctuary for the House of Black. It’ll recognize him.”

“Mum…” Draco murmured, his voice trembling. “Doesn’t… Doesn’t Great-Aunt Walburga have a portrait in Grimmauld Place..?”

Ah. That… That might be a problem.

She let out a small groan, nodding a bit. “Yes, she does. But I’m sure everything will be fine. Just… Stay here, I’ll be back as quickly as I can be, okay?”

“Okay.” They all said softly, watching as she turned on her heel and strode out of the room. Once she was out of earshot, she took off running.

Any sane person would lose their minds at being stuck with her Aunt Walburga, even if she was just a portrait, for any length of time.

She just hoped that Grimmauld Place was still standing when she got there.

—

“And this, Master Harry, is the library.” Kreacher crooned, opening the door with a snap of his fingers and leading him into the dark room, snapping his fingers once again and illuminating the rows upon rows of shelves. “Kreacher organized the books by subject matter and in alphabetical order, so if Master Harry needs any specific books, he need only tell Kreacher what he needs.”

“Wow… This is beautiful, Kreacher.” Harry whispered, looking around the room. It was, truly, a beautiful library. The cleanest room in the house, it seemed, as well.

With its high ceilings, dark wood everything, and soft lantern light that just barely lit up the entire space, it was the perfect little hideaway, like what he imagined a vampire’s manor library to look like.

The rugs were soft and plush, and there were a few comfortable looking sitting chairs on the other side of the room. Everything was a bit dusty, but that was nothing a bit of work couldn’t fix.

“...Hey, Kreacher?” He asked softly, turning back towards the house elf. “What do you say to us getting our dust on and cleaning up a bit?”

Kreacher’s eyes went wide and horrified. “Master Harry? Cleaning? Nonono- Kreacher will not allow. Master Harry will let Kreacher clean and he will read books and explore his home!”

“It really isn’t any trouble, and if the two of us are cleaning, it’ll go by much faster-” Harry tried to protest, but before he actually could, Kreacher had snapped his fingers once again, and a large handkerchief had flown up to his face, covering his nose and mouth as it tied around the back of his head. As soon as his face was protected, half a dozen feather dusters began fluttering around the room, swiping the thick layer off of every inch of the place and piling it all into a mound in the middle of the floor, which the house elf immediately vanished.

“Master Harry can stay in the library where it is clean. Kreacher will clean the house for Master Harry.” The house elf nodded, walking over and gently taking Harry’s hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Kreacher is so very happy to have a child of the House of Black to serve again… Thank you for coming home, Master Harry…”

“You’re… Uhm… You’re welcome, Kreacher.” He said softly. “Are you sure I can’t help you clean?”

Kreacher shook his head again, pulling away and toddling out of the room, the feather dusters following him out.

“Kreacher will make the House of Black beautiful for Master Harry, so he may see his Noble House in all of its glory!” He heard the house elf call as he popped around the house, cleaning his way through what honestly seemed to be almost a decade of dirt and grime.

Harry sighed a bit, shaking his head as he smiled. He should have known that would be a lost cause, considering how many times in only two weeks he’d attempted to help the Malfoy elves clean up or cook, only to be gently shooed from the room so they could work in peace.

But, he had to try. His parents didn’t raise him to not offer help, after all.

He slowly made his way around the library, his hands running over the freshly cleaned wood of the bookshelves as he read the titles.

“Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed… Jinxes for the Jinxed… Moste Potente Potions… Concerning the Black Arts… Le Dragon Rouge…” Harry murmured softly, his eyes flickering over each book until one finally caught his eye. “Magick Moste Evile? Wonder what’s in there…”

He carefully pulled the book off the shelf, walking over to one of the comfortable armchairs and settling into it, opening the book carefully and beginning to read.

The script was difficult to decipher at times, and many of the words were written in Old English, which meant it was even harder, but he was able to stumble through most of it, listening to the background noise of Kreacher cleaning downstairs.

It didn’t take long for him to become fully enraptured in the text, his eyes tracing each page and absorbing each dark spell and ritual that was held within. Sometimes, a spell would stick out, and it felt like the words were connecting with a locked away memory in his mind, one of the many ones left behind after the mind meld he did with the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.

Unfortunately, the comfort of reading in a plush chair in a low lit space began to take its toll, and he fell asleep not even twenty minutes after he sat down and began reading, completely unaware of the world around him.

But, he was safe. He didn’t know how he knew that, but he was safe within the walls of Grimmauld Place, and the house would protect him no matter what.

So, he slept.

And he slept better than he had in months.

—

The sight of Grimmauld Place was bittersweet as she stood out in front of the old building. Memories of summers spent running through its halls with her sisters, then chasing after her little cousins as they got old enough to run flooded through her mind, as well as the last time she was here.

Which had been the last time she’d seen Sirius, in fact. All those years ago, on the day of Regulus’ memorial…

She shook her head firmly, taking a deep breath as she walked up to the front door, grabbing the serpentine door knocker and hitting it against the door three times.

It took a few minutes, but eventually, the familiar, elderly house elf that she knew and loved her entire childhood opened the door, his large eyes somehow becoming even larger as tears welled up in them.

“Miss Cissy..?” He asked softly. “Miss Cissy has come to visit Kreacher and Master Harry?”

“So Harry is here?” Narcissa asked softly, a sigh of relief escaping her as she smiled down at the house elf. “Yes, I am here to visit you and Harry, Kreacher, but… I’m also here to take Harry back home.”

Kreacher frowned a bit, but stepped to the side without a second thought, allowing her to enter the house. “But Master Harry is home. With Kreacher.”

“This is one of his homes, yes.” She nodded, looking around and smiling a bit at how genuinely clean the old house was looking. It seemed that Harry’s arrival at Grimmauld Place had motivated the ancient house elf to start cleaning again. “But… He can’t stay here for too long. Harry is… Harry is like Regulus. He can feel magic very deeply, and you remember how sick Regulus was when he was here for extended periods of time?”

The house elf’s eyes widened a bit, horror dawning on his face. “Oh… Oh… Master Harry cannot become sick… Kreacher will not allow that… Miss Cissy should take Master Harry away after he wakes from his nap in the library. He was very, very tired, and so Kreacher does not want to wake him until he is ready to wake up on his own.”

Narcissa nodded a bit. “Is it alright if I at least go and see him? Check on him and make sure he’s alright after being portkeyed here?”

“Of course, Miss Cissy. Kreacher will keep cleaning so the House of Black is nice and clean for Master Harry.”

She chuckled, heading up the familiar staircase and heading straight towards the library, the route there as familiar to her now as it was when she was still a little girl. She gently pushed the door open, creeping inside and looking around, trying to find her charge.

After a moment of wandering around, she found him curled up in an armchair, curled protectively around a book he was reading. Kreacher hadn’t been lying, he looked exhausted, and he was sleeping peacefully.

Narcissa sighed affectionately, looking around and grabbing her own book- a copy of Baneful Belladonna; A History of Poisons- and settling into the armchair next to Harry’s.

There was no use in waking him if he was actually getting sleep, so she’d just wait for him like Kreacher said.

He’d always been a rather intelligent elf, after all.

Chapter Text

“Harry!” Draco shouted, jumping up from the sofa and rushing over to his friend, throwing his arms around his shoulders and almost completely bowling him over. Harry stumbled a bit, hugging back tightly as he tried to keep them both steady, a startled laugh escaping him.

“Hi, Draco.” He grinned, pulling away a bit and opening his mouth to speak before he was nearly bowled over a second, and third time, as Blaise and Theo basically tackled him into the wall. He laughed as his body was pressed up against the cool stone, wrapping his arms around them like a vice grip. “Jesus-!”

“Don’t ever do that again you utter buffoon.” Blaise hissed burying his face in his shoulder. “I hate you so much. You scared the absolute shit out of us.”

“We didn’t know where you went, or if you were safe, or- We didn’t know anything!” Theo protested, his arms coming up to wrap around Harry’s head and hug him even closer. “You were gone for hours!”

“Well, I’m fine. Narcissa went and got me.” He snickered, finally wiggling out of his friend’s grasp and looking at them. Narcissa shook her head affectionately, gently patting their backs as she walked further into the manor.

“I’ll let you boys do the proper scolding. I didn’t have the heart to say anything to him.”

Harry’s eyes widened a bit as he looked after Narcissa, going a bit pale.

“Wait, what? You’re just gonna-”

“I absolutely am. Consider it a bit of punishment for not conferring with Lucius and I about the portkey before testing it out on your own.”

“...Okay, yeah, I deserve that.”

The stern look in her eyes was broken up only by the wide smile that spread across her face as she turned the corner and headed further into the manor. With his own sheepish grin, he slowly turned around to look at his friends again, who were all staring him down with matching looks of concerned fury.

Then, Theo grabbed Harry by the front of his shirt, and silently began walking him upstairs, flanked by the other two boys. As they walked, he made brief eye contact with Lord Malfoy, who was emerging from his office, and mouthed a silent plea.

“Help.”

Lord Malfoy paused, looked at the four boys, and then silently made his way back into the office.

Traitor.

He stumbled forward a bit when Theo shoved him into the room, holding his hands up in a surrender as he stepped back, away from his advancing friends.

“Okay, okay. I know you guys are mad at me for scaring you, and I get it-”

“No. Harry.” Draco huffed. “Do you have any idea how legitimately terrifying that was? You just, got sucked away by a portkey. We didn’t know where you went, we didn’t know if it was safe, or if it was going to take you to somewhere that was genuinely going to hurt you. Mother remembered where it went really quickly, but… That doesn’t change the fact that for a solid few minutes, we were scared you were going to end up dead.”

“And that might sound dramatic, but considering the insanity that is the shit you get up to, against your will, it’s really not that far outside the realm of possibility, and you know that.” Blaise added. “I mean, all of last year should be a reminder of that.”

Theo was silent, just… Staring at him. Staring with a stern, serious expression that made his skin crawl a bit.

Harry sighed a bit, running a hand through his hair. “...I’m sorry. I wasn’t really thinking.”

“I just wanted to get the portkey to work, and I didn’t think about the consequences. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

They all relaxed a bit, and Theo stepped forward, cupping his face in his hands and bumping their foreheads together.

“Thank you.” He murmured. “That’s all we wanted.”

A small smile broke across Harry’s face at that, and he chuckled.

“Well… Can I sweeten the deal with something really cool?”

His friends all looked at him in confusion, letting him step back and dig through his bag for a moment, before he pulled out a few neatly tied together stacks of books, setting them on Theo’s bed and waving his arms with a flourish.

“Ta-da!” He laughed. “These, are books from the Black Family Library, carefully curated and chosen for each one of you! I have a couple more stacks in here too, for Daph, Lue, and Nev, but because you guys are here now, I wanted to give them to you.”

Each stack was five or six books tall, tied together with a thick, black ribbon that finished off in a bow on top. Carefully, he floated each stack to their respective person, who all staggered a bit under the weight of the books.

“Harry- is this-?” Draco gasped a bit, staring at the book right on top of his stack.

“Moste Potente Potions? It is.” He said proudly. “Kreacher fixed it up a bit. I took the copy of Concerning the Black Arts for you, Theo, because it has a massive section on old summoning rituals and runes that got phased out over the years, and Blaise has what I’m fairly certain, and I might be wrong, is one of the first copies of the Book of the Zodiac?”

He watched in utter delight, as his friends all sat down on the floor and began unwrapping the books, their eyes wide with excitement as they immediately began to chatter about the subjects covered in each of their books. He smiled, settling down as well and grabbing his own book out of his bag to continue where he left off.

He just hoped that the rest of his friends would like their books as much as the boys did.

—

Grimmauld Place was, in one word, strange.

The house’s haunted, musty qualities never seemed to go away, no matter how much Kreacher cleaned, and every time Harry visited the house, he seemed to discover a brand new room. There were over a dozen bedrooms spread out through the house, some of them sealed up, and the further into the rooms he dug, the more side rooms he discovered.

He still absolutely adored the library, however, and spent most of his time when he visited there, at Kreacher’s insistence, because the house elf was still deep cleaning the house and making sure there was nothing dangerous that would harm his “Young Master Harry”.

And he legitimately enjoyed having the crotchety old elf around. He was a goldmine of stories about the Black family, as he had actually helped raise all of them but the most recent generation, and he delighted in telling these stories to Harry over meals and when he would emerge from the library to come and see the freshly cleaned rooms.

“This, Master Harry, is the drawing room. It was the last room that needed to be cleaned.” The elf explained, leading him into the rather nicely decorated parlor, and sounding rather proud of himself. Harry smiled a bit, reaching down and gently patting the house elf’s head.

“It looks amazing, Kreacher. You’ve done an incredible job fixing the place up.”

And the elf honestly had. In just a little over a week, Grimmauld Place had gone from an abandoned home that felt unsafe and dangerous, and while it still needed some work, it was livable now.

Which, was important to them both.

After a moment, his eyes were drawn to a large tapestry on one wall, and he slowly made his way over to it.

It was faded and looked as though moths had gnawed it in places; nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show them a sprawling family tree dating back, at least, as far as Harry could see, to the Middle Ages. It was hard to make out many of the names, dates, or faces on the tree, but he could see vague shadows of what had once been there.

“Kreacher?” He asked softly.

“Yes, Master Harry?”

“Is this the Black Family Tree?”

There was a soft shuffling as Kreacher made his way over to his side. “It is, Master Harry. This is the tree of the most Noble and Ancient House of Black.”

He nodded slowly, his eyes tracing over each branch. Curiously, it seemed as though most of the family tree had already died off.

Or, in many cases… Been singed off.

Harry frowned, his magic flickering as he felt the traces of the dark fire that had been used to burn away members of the family. His family.

He had to fix it.

“Do you know how the tapestry was made, Kreacher?” He asked, kneeling down to the house elf’s height so they could speak face to face. Kreacher made a bit of a face, obviously thinking hard.

“...Mistress said that the first Blacks bound the magic with their blood, and that only blood would be able to repair it.” He said thoughtfully. “As neither Master Regulus or Master Sirius had biological children, and she was the one who burned it, Kreacher believes it cannot be repaired.”

“Not with that attitude it can’t.”

Harry hopped back up to his feet, pausing for a moment as he thought about what the house elf said.

It was created with blood, and while he may not be biologically related to the Blacks… He was still the heir.

The house’s magic would respond to him.

He hummed a bit, grabbing his pocket knife and opening it with his usual wrist flick, then, without another word, he sliced open his palm. A horrified gasp ripped from Kreacher’s throat, and he felt the elf’s little hands grab onto his leg as he pressed his own against the trunk of the tree tapestry.

Almost immediately, he felt the house’s dark magic reach out and connect with his own through the blood that was slowly seeping into the fabric.

“Hello… My Heir… What do you need…?” It asked, its voice deep and soft all at once, reaching out and caressing his face the way his dad used to do when he was upset and in tears.

“I want to fix the tapestry. Remove the burns… Restore the ones who were removed. Bring life back into the House of Black.”

“Of course, My Heir… I will do what I can…”

“And I will help you.”

He smiled a bit, closing his eyes as he felt the magic continue to seep into the tapestry, his own mixing with the shadowy darkness that pumped through the house like blood, taking threads and pulling them back together, forming new fibers and stretching them out, coloring them just the right shades.

Harry’s knees buckled a bit, forcing him to take a shaky breath to try and steady himself. This was taking more magic out of him than he’d expected.

Then, as quickly as it began, it stopped, and the connection was severed, causing him to stumble back. Kreacher snapped his fingers, causing one of the plush recliners to come flying forward, catching him as he fell and allowing him to land on a soft surface, rather than the hardwood floor.

He chuckled a bit, looking over at the house elf with a small smile.

“Thanks, Kreacher…” He said softly, watching as he gently took his injured hand and twirled his finger in a circle, summoning bandages out of thin air and wrapping them around his sliced open palm. “And thanks for that, too…”

“Is Master Harry alright? What can Kreacher get for him? A drink? A snack?”

“Uhm…” Harry paused, blinking a few times. He felt completely drained, and like he hadn’t drank or eaten anything in days, and like his brain was completely scrambled. “...Yes?”

“Kreacher will make tea for Master Harry, then. Master Harry will not move from this armchair until Kreacher returns.” He said sternly, and he nodded.

“If I stand up, I might pass out, so… That works.”

Kreacher huffed, reaching up and gently patting Harry’s arm before he popped away, leaving him to try and get his mind back in order. He sat up carefully, wrapping his arms around himself as he looked up at the tapestry, sucking in a sharp breath.

The faded colors were gone entirely, replaced with brilliant, vibrant hues of green, gold, and silver, which made each of the portraits stand out brightly.

His eyes followed the tree branches in fascination, looking for a few people in particular.

Narcissa’s was the easiest to find, with her pale blonde hair making her starkly different from the rest of the family. She was connected with a silver thread to Lord Malfoy, and from there, another thread that connected them to Draco. He smiled a bit, their stern faces so… Abnormal to see considering how the three of them almost always had smiles on their faces when he saw them.

There were two other names connected to Narcissa’s directly. Bellatrix and Andromeda. Bellatrix, the second eldest sister, had wild black hair and deeply hooded eyes, and an almost mad look in her eyes. She was connected to a man named Rodolphus Lestrange, who looked just as manic as she did.

Andromeda, however, had a much cooler look to her face. She was connected to a man named Edward Tonks, who was the first smiling person that Harry saw on the tapestry.

Then, with a short laugh, he realized who their child was.

“No shit… Tonks is my cousin, then.” He muttered, a smile forming on his face. “So is Draco, but… I already knew that.”

He continued scanning the tree, nodding a bit when he saw Sirius, the man’s handsome face catching his attention for a moment.

He looked… So different compared to the pictures of him in the paper. But, he supposed, that’s probably what over a decade in prison would get you to look like.

His brother, Regulus, was by his side. He was a bit less handsome, if Harry was being honest with himself, but it was probably more personal preference than an actual knock on the boy’s look.

Then, after another few moments, he found the name he was looking for.

Marius Black. Who was connected to Victoria Black.

Then from there, Edward and Elspeth, his grandparents.

Harry’s heart was pounding as he forced his eyes down just a bit more, tears stinging at the corners when he read the names.

Gideon and Fiona Hartford. And just below them, was himself and Prue.

His family.

They were there.

Each one of them was smiling in their portrait, a vast difference from the rest of the tapestry, except for the Tonkses.

He had forgotten just how beautiful his parents were when they smiled. His dad’s dimples, the way his mum’s eyes crinkled in the corners.

And Prue’s squishy little cheeks. Her wispy, black hair.

And a smile on her face.

He hiccupped softly, starting to cry. He’d had to leave for school before he actually saw her first smile.

It was, probably the worst part about having actually leaving for school.

Kreacher popped up next to him, a tray of tea and sandwiches floating into the drawing room behind him. His eyes were wide and concerned when he saw that Harry was crying, and he gently rested a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“Is Master Harry alright..?” He asked quietly.

“Y-yeah. I’m okay, Kreacher. I just… I fixed the tapestry.”

“You did very good, Master Harry… But why does that make you cry..?”

“My sister.” He sniffed, wiping his eyes quickly as he took a deep breath, gesturing to the tapestry. “The uh… The last time I saw her alive, she was only like… Seven weeks old. Not even two months, and… And she hadn’t even smiled yet.”

Kreacher’s frown deepened, and he reached up to gently wipe a few of the years from the boy’s cheek, grasping his hands in his own old, shriveled ones.

“...Master Harry’s family died very young… More members of the House of Black have died…” He rasped out. “This must still be a time of mourning…”

Harry chuckled a bit. “It’s… It’s okay, Kreacher. Thank you… It happened almost half a year ago now. I just… I don’t like thinking about it much…”

The house elf nodded gently. “Would Master Harry like Kreacher to fetch him something to read while he regains his strength?”

“That would be lovely, Kreacher… And when you come back, please, help yourself to some tea and snacks as well. Could you grab that book I left on the armchair… Uh… Oh, Unbreakable Oaths; The Bonds that Bind?”

“Of course, Master Harry.”

With a now comforting pop, Kreacher disappeared, before he returned a few moments later, his elf reappeared with a large, leather bound book, gently setting it in his lap. Harry smiled softly, reaching out and patting his head gently, before he poured Kreacher a cup of tea and handed it to him.

“Take as many sandwiches and biscuits as you’d like… I’ll be alright here, but I’ll call for you if I need anything, okay?” He reassured the elf, watching as he gathered up a few small finger sandwiches and biscuits into his pillowcase, floating the tea cup next to his head so he had free hands.

“Of course, Master Harry. Please rest well.”

“You as well, Kreacher.”

The elf disappeared once again, and Harry sighed, closing his eyes and tilting his head back against the headrest for a moment.

Every other time he’d experienced magical exhaustion, he’d been hopped up on adrenaline from helping birth a unicorn, or been unconscious after being overloaded by ancient basilisk magic and dispelling Fiendfyre with his bare hands.

And it fucking sucked to not have either of those things numbing the pain.

With trembling hands, he lifted the teapot and poured himself a cup, deciding against using any magic until he stopped feeling like he had a horrific case of the flu.

Taking a small sip, he opened his book to where he’d left off, and went back to reading about the different bonding rituals and oaths that wizards could enact, occasionally glancing up at the smiling faces of his parents and sister, letting the sight help soothe the ache as well.

Because at least with that, it still felt like a piece of them was with him, even if it was only a few portraits on a tapestry.

—

The Godparent’s Oath is one of a few rare, but still used oaths used in modern times.

For Muggles, a Godparent is an individual chosen by the parents to take an interest in the child's upbringing and personal development, to offer mentorship or claim legal guardianship of the child if anything should happen to the parents.

For Wixen, the duties of the Godparents are much the same, although on a much deeper level.

The Oath an intended Godparent must take is one that must never be taken likely. While for Muggles, the Oath is nothing more than words, a witch or wizard must truly understand what they are promising to do for the child whose safety is being entrusted to them.

In fact, from the very beginning, the Oath declares that if one is to go against their promises to the parents and the child, it would strip them of their magic entirely, dooming them to being nothing more than a muggle for the rest of their lives.

The most extreme version of the Oath, however, and the one that only the most devoted Godparents, and those from very old wixen families, take, does not strip them of their magic, however.

It kills them. Instantly, and painfully.

Very few Godparents have ever met this fate, however, as being selected as a Godparent is the greatest sign of trust and love amongst Wixen.

The act of entrusting the life and safety of one’s child to another in the event of their death is something not to be taken lightly, and one should always take great care to choose the best candidate for the job.

Although, if all else fails, The Oath will ensure the safety of the child if there is no perfect candidate for the job.

-

Harry’s gaze flicked over the passage he’d just read for what felt like the thirtieth time.

A Godparent’s oath prevents them from harming their godchild, no matter what.

And for some reason, every time he mentioned his own godfather, Sirius, everyone would tense up around him in a way that made him… Honestly really suspicious.

He stood up from his bed, sticking his finger into the book to save his place as he slipped out of his room, trotting down the stairs and down into the sitting room so he could try and find Lord Malfoy and Narcissa.

It took a few minutes, because the two of them had apparently decided to take tea out in the gardens that afternoon, but when he eventually found them, Lord Malfoy immediately waved him over.

“Good afternoon, Harry. You’re walking around with a determined expression on your face… What’s on your mind?” He asked as the boy approached, taking a sip from his tea as he sat up further.

“Why do you guys make such weird faces whenever I bring up Sirius?” Harry asked point blank, watching as Lord Malfoy choked on his drink and Narcissa slowly set her cup down. Due to her husband’s occupied state, she sighed a bit, turning to the boy with a small smile.

“Harry… You should have a seat. This is a long story.” She said gently, and he nodded, sitting down in the third chair at the table they were at. Narcissa took a minute to figure out what she wanted to say, before she began to speak again.

“As you might know, Sirius is my cousin. He’s only a few months younger than I am, so we were… We were very close growing up. Both of my sisters were much older than I, and so having him around was invaluable to me. He, and his brother Regulus, were my best friends for years.”

“I didn’t realize you two were so close…” Harry said softly.

“They were.” Lord Malfoy rasped out after a moment, having finally cleared his airway of tea. “The only reason they stopped being as close was because when they went to Hogwarts, Narcissa was sorted into Slytherin, and Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor. That, was where he met your biological father, James Potter.”

Narcissa nodded, continuing from there. “Sirius and James were thicker than thieves. You never saw one without the other. They had two other friends as well, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.” She paused for a moment when her husband scoffed at the last name, shooting him a look to silence him again. “The four of them were inseparable. Called themselves The Marauders. Unfortunately… Because Sirius sorted into Gryffindor, and not Slytherin, like the rest of the family, his parents were furious with him.”

“Walburga and Orion?”

“The very same. Aunt Walburga was… She was terrifying. Even I will admit it. When we did our Boggart lesson in our third year Defense class, mine was her in a rage, screaming her head off and brandishing her wand at me like she was going to hex me or something.” She shuddered, closing her eyes. “But… She was downright cruel to Sirius after his sorting. Forbade Regulus from writing him letters directly, so he would write to me, and I would bring them to him. I will, truly, never forget the day I tried to bring him one of Regulus’ letters, and he scoffed at me like he was… Disgusted by my presence.”

Harry frowned a bit. He couldn’t imagine anyone treating Narcissa like that, and the fact that it had been someone she had grown up so close to just… Didn’t make sense.

“He got worse over the years. The divide between Regulus, who also sorted into Slytherin, and him had broken both of their hearts, even if they were both too proud to admit it. But… I could never be too mad at him. Sirius was always a melancholic child, and seeing him with those three boys… He was so bright. And happy. I couldn’t bring myself to break my best friend’s heart, even if he no longer considered me his.”

Narcissa opened her eyes again, staring down at her hands like she didn’t want to make eye contact with Harry.

“He ran away from home in his fifth year. Started living with James, and cut all contact with Regulus and myself. I didn’t speak to him for almost three years, until all of us had already graduated from Hogwarts, and… And I was about to marry Lucius. We were both eighteen, high on the excitement of our impending marriage, and I invited Sirius to the wedding, because I wanted him to know that even with everything that was happening, and the brewing war, that I still loved him, and I still wanted him around.” She choked out quietly. “Especially since Regulus had just died… And he didn’t come to the funeral…”

Lord Malfoy reached across the table and grabbed her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. She squeezed back, tilting her head up to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“He sent the invitation back ripped to pieces. And that was when I finally accepted that I had lost my best friend.” Narcissa smiled sadly. “The wedding was still beautiful, and it’s still the second happiest day of my life-”

“Second happiest?” Harry asked, raising a brow. His cheeks flushed a bit when he realized that he had interrupted, but she simply chuckled.

“The day Draco was born was the happiest day of my life.” She explained.

“Oh!”

Narcissa laughed a bit, the tears in her eyes fading as she dabbed at the corners of them with a handkerchief. Then, once she had calmed herself again, she continued explaining.

“The Dark Lord was at his strongest, then, and… And many of the pureblooded families had pledged themselves to him. Lucius included, although he regrets that fact now. But some people still refused to bow. Sirius was one of them.” She nodded slowly. “He fought back any chance he could, and publicly denounced The Dark Lord as often as possible. And then… Then you were born. A little less than two months after I brought Draco into this world, it was like he disappeared entirely. I didn’t see anything of him for over a year, and when I did…”

“He’d been arrested for revealing the location of James and Lily Potter’s home, getting them killed by The Dark Lord.”

Lord Malfoy's face turned grim at that, and he shook his head. “...It didn’t make sense to me at first, but… And Cissa, darling, this is nothing against you… Many members of the Black family have a tendency to go mad. No one is quite sure why, but… I believe that Sirius went mad, and defected to the side of the Dark Lord-”

“He did no such thing.” Narcissa snapped suddenly, her harsh tone startling her husband and Harry. “Sirius loved James the way he had loved Regulus and I.”

“And he left you, Narcissa. He left you both. Who’s to say he wouldn’t do it again?”

The way her face paled from the sudden rush of anger made Harry, instinctively, reach up and grab his necklace, waiting for the protective magic inside to form a shield around him to keep him safe. Lord Malfoy seemed to notice that his words had struck a nerve as well, and he gave her a worried smile.

“Cissa… Darling… You know I-”

“Lucius. I love you very much.” She said through gritted teeth. “However. I need you to be quiet. Please. Because I’m very angry at the insinuation that my beloved cousin would betray those he loves so severely that he would get them killed.”

Lord Malfoy nodded quickly, turning away and going back to his tea, glancing over at his wife every few moments.

Narcissa took a slow, deep breath, allowing herself a moment to calm down before she looked at Harry again, and offering him an apologetic smile.

“I’m sorry, Harry… That was uncalled for. But, yes. Most of the wizarding world believes that Sirius was the one who betrayed the Potters and inadvertently ended the Dark Lord. I believe it’s very possible he killed those muggles in a fit of rage fueled grief, but…”

“But you don’t believe he sold out James and Lily?” Harry asked softly. “Why?”

“Because…” She paused. “...Because Sirius loved you more than he had ever loved anyone before. He loved you more than James, or Regulus, or myself. You were… From the very moment you were born, you were his everything. He would have died for you in a heartbeat, Harry. Happily done so, in fact.”

Harry sat there quietly for a moment, before he nodded slowly, a small smile on his face.

“...Thank you. I’m sorry for interrupting your tea time.” He said softly, standing up and grabbing his book again. Narcissa raised a brow.

“Oh, did you have another question?”

“No, no… You already answered it.”

“Well… Alright, darling. Please, feel free to ask me any questions you might have, okay? About our family, about… Well, anything.”

“I will. Thank you, Narcissa. Thank you, Lord Malfoy.” He nodded a bit, before he quickly trotted back inside, letting out a shuddering breath.

She really had answered his question without even realizing it. There was no possible way that Sirius had been the one to betray his biological parents, which meant that he had been locked up in Azkaban for over a decade for a crime he didn’t commit.

The question now was, very simply… Who had actually betrayed James and Lily?

And where the hell were they now?

Chapter Text

“Harry, you have been holed up in this room reading for the last week.” Lord Malfoy sighed good naturedly. “It’s not good for a young man to lose himself to books like this.”

He looked up at the man in his doorway, blinking slowly as his eyes adjusted to the light coming from the hallway. It was a funny feeling as his attention came back to reality, like he had just woken up from a deep sleep, except that deep sleep was a book that he had sank headfirst into at around two in the morning the night before.

His mind was still swirling with the magic he’d read about in the book, the rituals and spells that described protection circles, summoning circles, how to expel a curse from a person’s body… Every last bit of it was fascinating and disturbing.

Hell, every book he had taken from the Grimmauld library was fascinating and disturbing, and he wasn’t afraid to admit that he was taking more notes on the books than he ever did for any of his classes.

A part of him knew that he was just trying to distract himself from everything he had learned the other day. About Sirius, about the oaths, how the entire world believed that the man was the reason James and Lily Potter were dead except for himself and Narcissa.

It stressed him out, because he genuinely didn’t know what to do, or how to convince anyone otherwise.

So, he was distracting himself.

But Lord Malfoy was still talking to him, so he needed to zero back in on the conversation before the man asked him a question.

“-aise has gone to Italy for the day, as his mother is hosting a small garden party for the Italian Wizengamot, Theodore has to return home to his father for a few days, and Draco will be off with his mother until late this evening… I cannot, in good conscience, let you stay in the house by yourself all day.” He said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I… Can go to Grimmauld?” Harry offered hopefully.

“Unfortunately, that won’t be cutting it, Harry. You’ll just stay inside and read the entire time.”

Damn. He caught him.

“What about Mr. Longbottom? Or Miss Greengrass? I know Miss Lovegood is still over in the United States, but you have other friends you can go and spend time with.”

Harry paused. “I think Neville is visiting his great uncle today, and Daphne’s mother is hosting a tea party at her home, so she can’t leave the house.”

Lord Malfoy made a face, like just the idea of going to a tea party horrified him. Then, he paused. “...What about your muggleborn friend? The Gryffindor girl. Didn’t the two of you make plans to spend some time together over the summer?”

His eyes lit up at that, and he jumped to his feet, a bright smile on his face as he closed up his book and notebook, tossing them both up onto his bed.

“I forgot about that!” Harry rushed over to his bag, digging around in it until he found the parchment that Hermione had given him, looking at the address for a moment until he figured out roughly where it was. “Lord Malfoy, can you apparate me to… Oh, shoot, what’s nearby… Oh! Oh, the Hoop Lane Cemetery? Do you know where that is?”

“I believe I know the rough location, yes.” Lord Malfoy nodded. “Is that close to her home?”

“It is, yeah.” He hummed, grabbing his jacket and pulling it on before he slipped his bag over his head, trotting over to the man with a smile. “There should be a telephone booth nearby so I can call her house.”

“Alright. When would you like us to retrieve you?”

“Uh… I’ll head to the Leaky and floo from there?”

“That works as well.”

The two of them slipped through the halls quietly, heading down to the parlor and right out the front door. Once they were beyond the wards, Harry grabbed hold of the man’s arm and held on tight, knowing that his apparitions were quite a bit rougher than Narcissa’s or Mrs. Zabini’s.

And, just as he thought would happen, he stumbled forward and nearly landed in a bush after they apparated, only being stopped by Lord Malfoy reaching out and grabbing him as he was almost perfectly parallel to the ground.

“Thank you.” Harry squeaked out, trying not to laugh as he was pulled upright.

“I apologize. I forget that my landings are a bit rough. Are you alright?” He asked, gently brushing Harry’s shoulders off as he looked over the boy.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Good, good… Will you be able to make your way to your friend’s house from here?”

“Absolutely. She’s just up this way.” He tilted his head up the road, a smile on his face as he turned around a few times to find a telephone box. When his gaze landed on one across the street, he turned back towards Lord Malfoy. “I’ll floo call the manor from the Leaky when I’m ready to come back. I’ll see you later.”

“Be safe, Harry. We’ll see you this evening.”

Harry smiled, before he looked both ways up and down the road and took off across it. He heard the distinct sound of apparition once again, and when he reached the box, saw that Lord Malfoy had left.

Now, he was by himself.

He slipped into the booth, grabbing his coin purse from his bag and reaching into it. He pulled out a few 20p coins, popping them into the coin slot as he grabbed the receiver and held it up to his ear, dialing Hermione’s home phone number.

It rang for a few moments, and he chewed on the inside of his cheek, suddenly feeling nervous. What if Hermione wasn’t there? What if no one was at the house? She had said that if she wasn’t at the house, then she was at the library, which he also had the address for, but he didn’t want to disturb her while she was reading.

Then, the familiar click of the other line being picked up caught his attention.

“Granger residence. This is Jean.” A woman asked, and Harry immediately spoke.

“Uhm… Hi Mrs. Granger.” He said softly. “I’m Harry Hartford, one of Hermione’s friends from school?”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then he heard, a bit distantly.

“Hermione! One of your friends is calling!”

He leaned against the wall, waiting as he listened to some shuffling and hushed murmurs on the other end of the line, before Hermione’s voice came through.

“Harry?” She asked.

“Hey, ‘mionie!”

“I thought it would be you!” She laughed a bit. “Seamus never calls, and the few times Ron has he would screech over the phone like an absolute madman. How have you been? How’s your summer going?”

“It’s been pretty good, yeah. Hey, I was wondering… Do you mind if I come over? We can just, spend the day together and hang out?”

“Oh, yeah! Of course! I don’t have any plans for the day.”

“Cool. I’m, literally up the road.” Harry chuckled. “Like. I’m across the street from Hoop Lane.”

“Really? I’ll see you in a few minutes, then!” Hermione laughed a bit. “Just come in, I’ll leave the door unlocked for you.”

“Yes ma’am.” He smiled, hanging up the phone and slipping out of the booth, looking back at the parchment and starting to walk up the street, heading towards her house.

He looked up and down the rows of houses, looking for the large number eight, and when he found it, he grinned, trotting up the sidewalk and pushing the door open. Sure enough, it was unlocked, and he relaxed at the sight of the girl in front of him, who immediately threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him. He squeezed her back, tucking his face in her shoulder for a moment.

“Hi.” She giggled.

“Hey.”

“Come in, come in!” Hermione pulled away, pushing the door closed and leading him further into the house. “You picked the perfect time! Mum and Dad are about to leave for the weekend! It’s their anniversary, so they’re going up to Cork to spend some time alone.”

“Oh, that’s awesome.” Harry chuckled a bit, following close behind her. “So they’re just, leaving you by yourself?”

“Yeah. They did this last year, too.”

“Huh… I can’t think of any time my parents left me alone like that.”

She smiled a bit at him, leading him into the kitchen. As they walked, he looked around at the house, pleasantly surprised at just how familiar everything felt. Sure, it had been years since he’d last been here, but… It was still somewhere he knew. Somewhere that had once been home.

“Do you want anything to drink?” She asked, opening the fridge.

“Oh, just a water, please.”

A bottle flew through the air over to him and he caught it easily, twisting off the lid as he sat at the dining room table. Hermione came and sat next to him after a moment, a bottle of fruit juice in her hands. She hummed happily, gently kicking her feet as she sipped her drink. Harry studied her for a moment, tilting his head as he tried to figure out just what was different about her.

It wasn’t her magic, it wasn’t her face… She’d gotten taller in the near month since he’d last seen her, but…

Aha!

“You, did something with your hair.” He said, pointing a finger at her. “The curls are more defined.”

Hermione’s eyes widened a bit, a blush rising on her cheeks. “I-i did! I’m… I’m really surprised you noticed. I got a new conditioner, and it’s helped a lot…”

“It looks really good.” Harry grinned. “All soft and bouncy.”

“Your hair looks nice too. Did you do it yourself?”

“Yeah, I… Uh…” He paused, suddenly feeling sheepish. “I cut it myself.”

She, however, just smiled, reaching out and ruffling his hair. “It suits you. It’s cutely messy.”

He laughed a bit, trying to pull away as she stood up, continuing to mess with him, her own grin spreading across her face.

Eventually, he batted her hands away, and they both sat back down, listening as Hermione’s parents came bustling down the stairs once again.

“Hermione, sweetheart!” Mr. Granger called, almost barrelling into the dining room and planting a kiss on his daughter’s forehead. “We’re off. I trust you remember the rules?”

“Keep the door locked and the blinds drawn, don’t answer the door to strangers, come home when the street lights come on, and don’t spend all the money on junk food.” She recited like she’d done it a thousand times.

“And?” Mrs. Granger asked, appearing behind her husband, who was pulling a wad of notes from his wallet and handing them to his daughter.

“No strange boys in the house. Don’t worry, Mum.”

“You say, as you sit at the table with a strange boy.”

“This isn’t a strange boy! This is Harry!”

He looked up at the two of them, waving politely as they stared for a moment. Mr. Granger realized who he was first, visibly relaxing as a smile formed on his face.

“Harry! Goodness, when Hermione told us that you were coming by, I hadn’t realized it was you!” He chuckled a bit, gently patting the boy on the back. “How have you been, son?”

“Been alright, sir.” He nodded. “Just… Taking things a day at a time.”

Both adults nodded solemnly, and Mrs. Granger walked over to Hermione, kissing her on both cheeks.

“Well… Thank you for coming and spending some time with Hermione. It’s always nice to see her with friends.” She smiled at the two of them. “We’ll see you in a few days, darling. Be safe. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mum, Dad.” Hermione said softly, standing up and pulling them into a tight hug. “Be safe.”

“Always are.” Mr. Granger chuckled, giving her a tight squeeze before he pulled away, reaching over and patting Harry’s shoulder. “No funny business, eh?”

“No, sir. Wouldn’t dream of it.” He quickly shook his head.

They stared at each other for a moment, with Mr. Granger’s eyes searched for any sign of a lie, while Harry fought back the urge to make a face at how accusatory the man was being.

So he was a boy being left alone in a house with a girl? Hermione was his sister. The very thought of looking at her like that made him feel ill.

Eventually, the man nodded, a smile forming on his face again.

After a few more rounds of goodbye’s, and another tight hug that Harry was squeezed into, the Grangers left the house in a hurry, loading up the last of their belongings for their trip. Once their car had pulled away, Hermione let out a small sigh of relief, slumping back into her seat.

“...So… What should we do?” She asked, looking over at Harry with a raised brow.

“...What do you want to do?” He asked in turn.

“Hm… Muggle or Wizard?”

“Let’s do something fun and muggle-y. I’ve been all surrounded by wizard stuff for the last month.”

“How about we go see a movie? There’s a new one I’ve been wanting to see… Jurassic Park?”

Harry’s eyes widened a bit. “Dinosaurs?”

“Dinosaurs.” Hermione agreed, a bright smile forming on her face as she stood up.

And with that, their plans for the morning were set, the two of them rushing about the house and gathering up what they needed before bursting out the front door, locking it behind them, and running off to catch the next bus to the nearest cinema.

—

Leaving the cinema was always a uniquely strange experience, something that Harry never really felt with anything else.

The way his legs were still half asleep, how his head immediately hurt the second he walked outside, and the way his mind was still racing from just how bloody brilliant the movie he’d just watched was.

There was truly nothing like it.

“Dinosaurs, Hermione! They were incredible!” Harry laughed, running a hand through his hair as he grinned at the girl, who seemed just as starstruck as he was. “The robots looked amazing, and I just… My god, it was beautiful.”

“Wasn’t it? Oh, I’ll have to go to the library tomorrow morning and check out a few books on them… I don’t think I’ve read anything on dinosaurs since I was a little girl!” She grinned, grabbing his hand and swinging it as they walked, skipping a bit. He snickered, skipping alongside her and lifting her arm up, letting her spin under his with another sharp laugh.

They continued walking down the strip, hand in hand, looking in all of the shops with a bit of fascination. There was a music store filled with guitars, pianos, a massive drum set that a teenager was absolutely going ham on, and more than a few other teenagers tooling around inside, messing with the instruments.

They stopped in a bookstore for a moment, Hermione grabbing herself a few new bookmarks while they were there, while Harry snagged himself a couple of Stephen King books, mostly out of curiosity, and tucked them deep into his bag.

His mum had said they were good, but he hadn’t been one for horror stories when he was younger.

Giggles consumed them when they walked past a lingerie store, with Harry’s face turning bright red when he saw the images of the models inside, immediately averting his gaze even as Hermione poked his side and teased him, the two of them quickly walking past the store to avoid it.

Truth be told… It was the first time since December that he felt like a normal kid, just out for a day of fun with a close friend.

They decided to start heading towards the Leaky Cauldron after a quick bus ride further into the city, talking about everything and nothing all at the same time, before a sharp bark caught their attention while they were walking the rest of the way.

Harry’s head snapped up, his eyes widening a bit when he saw the skinny, shaggy black dog standing a few yards away. It was just… Staring at him with a curious expression. At his side, he heard Hermione let out a soft, pained whimper.

“Oh… Poor baby…” She whispered, kneeling down and holding her hand out. He followed her lead, watching in amazement as the dog trotted over to them, sniffing their hands before it licked both of their cheeks, pulling a soft laugh from them. Harry reached out, gently scrubbing the dog’s ears, and grinning at the happy expression on its face.

“Hey there, buddy… What’s going on? What are you doing out here all by yourself?” He asked softly, starting to scratch the dog’s neck as well, watching its tail smack violently against its legs. “Aw… You’re a friendly boy, aren’t you? Who’s a good boy? You’re a good boy!”

Hermione laughed, scrubbing the dog as well. “You’re so skinny, puppy… Harry, we should get him something to eat when we get to Diagon.”

“Agreed. He’s too skinny. You’re too skinny!” He said in a high pitched voice, earning a soft whine from the dog, who licked his cheek once again. Harry laughed, standing up carefully and waving for the dog to follow them as they kept walking. Amazingly, the dog was right at their heels the entire time, sticking close to them both as they walked.

Harry looked around nervously as they ducked into the Leaky Cauldron, pulling the dog closer to him as they crept through, thankfully not being spotted by any of the patrons as they made their way out the back door, pressing the bricks in the usual order to step through to the other side.

“Uh, ‘mionie?” He asked, looking over at the girl. “Where should we go to get him something to eat? I don’t want to make him sick with people food…”

“Magical Menagerie would probably be the best spot.” Hermione nodded firmly, looking around before setting off towards the shop. Harry followed her, reaching down and resting his hand on the shaggy dog’s head, scrubbing a bit as they walked together.

Something about having that dog by his side made him feel… Safer.

He twined his hair into the dog’s fur, relaxing a bit and letting a bit of his magic flow into the dog, feeling a small, happy spark of magic in turn. He smiled a bit, before looking up at what he figured was Magical Menagerie. It was a decently large shop, painted a soft blue and framed by rough stone. He could barely see in through the windows, but, with the way Hermione confidently strode inside, he knew they were in the right place.

When he followed her inside, he was immediately taken aback by the lack of space inside.

Every inch of wall was hidden by cages, which were smelly and very noisy because the occupants’ squeaking, squawking, jabbering, or hissing.

The witch behind the counter was already advising a wizard on the care of double-ended newts, so Harry, Hermione, and the dog waited, examining the cages curiously.

A pair of enormous purple toads sat gulping wetly and feasting on dead blowflies. A gigantic tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell was glittering near the window. Poisonous orange snails were oozing slowly up the side of their glass tank, and a fat white rabbit kept changing into a silk top hat and back again with a loud popping noise.

Then there were cats of every color, a noisy cage of ravens, a basket of funny custard-colored furballs that were humming loudly, and on the counter, a vast cage of sleek black rats that were playing some sort of skipping game using their long, bald tails. The dog, who was sniffing the air curiously, growled a bit when he saw the rats, pressing closer to Harry like he was trying to protect him.

The double-ended newt wizard left, large terrarium in hand, and Hermione walked up to the witch behind the counter.

“Excuse me?” She asked softly, catching the woman’s attention. “We found this dog wandering, and we wanted to get him something to eat. What would you recommend for him?”

The witch, a pretty, middle aged woman wearing large, black glasses turned towards Harry and the dog, who was still pressed up against his leg. She studied the dog for a moment, before nodding slowly.

“Alright. I think I know exactly what we can do for him.” She said. “Please, wait a moment.”

As the witch disappeared into the back of the shop, Hermione came back to stand next to Harry and the dog, reaching down and scratching under its chin gently.

“And there we go. We’ll get this little guy some food, and once he’s nice and fed, we can figure out what to do with-” She began to say, before, like it had been thrown from the heavens, an absolutely massive orange cat came crashing down into her arms. Harry and Hermione both shrieked in surprise, causing the dog to start barking wildly, which in turn, set off the rest of the animal residents.

“Whag!” She yelped, clutching the cat to her chest and staring at him in shock. Harry, for some reason, had his hands up like he was going to karate chop the creature to protect himself and Hermione. The four of them, the dog included, all looked between one another in shock.

The witch came running back out of the back room, her eyes wide, and a large bag of dog food under her arm. “What’s happened?! Is everyone alright?”

Hermione turned to look at her before erupting into a fit of giggles. “...I think this cat likes me.”

“That, would be Crookshanks…” The witch sighed a bit, walking over and gently scratching under Crookshanks’ chin, who was purring like a motorboat. “He’s been here with us for ages… Nobody wants him.”

“Oh, poor thing…”

Harry leaned over to look at the cat, smiling a bit at him. Crookshanks’ ginger fur was thick and fluffy, but it was definitely a bit bowlegged and its face looked grumpy and oddly squashed, as though it had run headlong into a brick wall.

He was the cutest, ugliest cat he’d ever seen.

He smiled a bit, reaching out and running his hand over Crookshanks’ back, relaxing a bit as he felt the soft vibrations from the cat’s purr.

Hermione gently buried her face into his fur, letting out a happy hum as she did so. The cat began to gently lick her temple, like she was a kitten he had to groom, and she let out a happy sigh.

“What a sweet boy…” She murmured, lifting her head again and looking at Crookshanks.

“Do you want him?” Harry asked, raising a brow. Her eyes went wide as she looked at him, her mouth falling open. “I’m being serious. Do you want him?”

“I… Uh… Yes, but…”

“Okay.”

He looked over at the witch who ran the shop, smiling softly at her. “I don’t know much about cats, so if it’s no trouble, could you pick out what you think will be best for Crookshanks? His food, favorite toys, and the like?”

The witch blinked a few times, but nodded. “Uh… Yes, of course.”

She quickly hustled off to the back of the shop again after setting the bag of dog food on the counter, leaving the two kids in the main room. Hermione’s eyes were still blown wide, staring at Harry in complete shock.

“Harry, you don’t have to buy him for me…” She whispered, holding Crookshanks closer.

“Technically, ‘mionie, I don’t have to do anything.” He grinned. “I want to buy him for you. He obviously likes you.”

The dog barked in acknowledgement, like it was agreeing, as it gently sniffed Crookshanks’ tail. The cat looked down at it, letting out a soft meow, reaching down, and booping its nose with his paw.

“It’s just… Cats are expensive, and…” Hermione continued to protest.

“And I have more money than I know what to do with. I can’t spend it fast enough, so please. Let me get Crookshanks for you. You deserve a companion, like I have with Hedwig and Mephistopheles.”

She hesitated, but nodded, shifting Crookshanks into one arm and pulling Harry into a tight hug, burying her face in his neck.

“Thank you… I’ve always wanted a pet of my own…” She murmured, giving him another squeeze before she pulled away.

The witch came back out of the back room, a wicker basket in her arms and a wide smile on her face. “This, is Crookshanks’ carrier, and I shrank down and put everything inside of it. He’s a good boy, and I’m glad he’s going to a home with an owner who will obviously adore him, even if I’m going to miss that sweet boy…”

Both of them cooed over the cat and continued giving him gentle scratches while Harry chuckled, grabbing his coin purse and setting the correct amount of galleons on the counter. Then, he grabbed a dog bowl from one of the shelves and added a few more, heaving the bag of dog food up under his arm and holding the bowl tightly in the same hand.

Hermione gathered up the wicker basket, and after the two of them thanked the witch again, they slipped back out of the shop, wandering around for a bit until they made it to Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and taking a seat outside. Once they were sat down, she set Crookshanks on the table, where he immediately curled up and began watching the dog, while Harry tore open the bag of dog food and poured it out, delighted to see that it wasn’t pellets like the pet food he was used to in the muggle world.

No, the dog food that poured out of the bag, the second it hit the bowl, turned into small chunks of different meats. Fish, pork, beef, chicken, as well as what looked like cut up pieces of broccoli and carrots.

“Eat up, buddy…” He said softly, sitting down and watching as the dog immediately moved forward and began to eat, inhaling the food in the bowl like his life depended on it.

And, if Harry’s thoughts were correct, he probably did.

Once the dog had finished its meal, he hummed a bit, twitching his fingers and making the bowl fill with water, which it also drank down greedily.

Having had its fill, the dog stepped forward, resting its head on Harry’s knee and closing its eyes, allowing him to just pet its head for a while.

“...Today was a good day.” Hermione said softly, swinging her feet a bit as she smiled at her friend. “Thank you for coming and spending time with me.”

“Of course, ‘mionie… You’re my sister, I’m always happy to hang out with you. The others are too, you know. Daph and Lue would love it if you came and hung out. They keep saying they need more girl time, and I’m sure they’d be happy to have you.”

“Are you sure?” She asked worriedly. “I just… I don’t want to intrude…”

“It’s Slytherin Code.” He shrugged. “Like I said, you’re family, so you’re always welcome. I know you have like, house loyalty and stuff, but… You’re always welcome with us.”

“Thanks, Harry…”

They sat in silence for a few moments before, out of the blue, the dog jumped up to his feet, let out a panicked sounding whimper, and took off running, startling them both. Harry jumped up as well, and was about to take off after it, but was stopped by an unfamiliar man’s voice.

“Ah-! Excuse me.” He said, causing Harry to whip around, his hand instinctively going for the knife in his pocket, and his gaze quickly falling onto a tall, young-ish looking man with greying hair and scars running across his face. The two of them made eye contact for a moment, the man’s expression turning into one of shock as he stared down at the boy in front of him. “I just… Was that your… Dog..?”

“Uh… No. No it wasn’t. It was a stray that my sister and I found.” Harry said softly, looking up at him apprehensively. “Can I help you?”

“Uh, no. No, I’m quite alright… I just, thought that dog looked rather familiar.” The man nodded a bit. “I’ll be on my way, then. Sorry for bothering you.”

He started to walk away for a moment, but then paused, turning back towards the two kids with a grave expression.

“...Keep away from the black dog. Strays are dangerous. They can turn on you at any time, no matter how much trust you think you’ve built up with it, it can always turn and bite when you least expect it.”

Then, he hustled away before either Harry or Hermione could say anything about that cryptic message, the two of them turning to look at each other in utter confusion at what just happened.

“That was odd. But… Oh, that poor pup…” Hermione frowned a bit. “I hope we see him again…”

“I hope so too.” He sighed, sealing the dog food again and tapping it three times, shrinking it, and the bowl down and tucking them into his bag. He frowned a bit, shaking his head. “We should probably start heading to the Leaky, that way you can get home and get Crookshanks acclimated to your house. Plus… I have something I need to talk to you about, while we wait for Lord Malfoy, if you don’t mind.”

“Good idea, and sure, what is it?” She nodded, standing up and grabbing the basket again, before Crookshanks jumped up into her arms. The two of them double checked to make sure that they weren’t leaving anything behind, and then began walking back down the alley towards the familiar pub.

“You’ve seen everything about Sirius Black, right?”

“I have. He has my parents a bit worried… They almost didn’t go on their trip this weekend because of it.”

“Yeah, well… He’s my godfather. And… And I don’t think he actually killed anyone.”

Harry looked over at Hermione, wincing a bit when he saw the horrified, incredulous look on her face.

“Let me just… Start at the beginning.” He said after a moment. “It’s a long story, so just, bear with me, yeah?”

“...Because it’s you, I’ll listen. But you sound completely mad, Harry.”

“I feel like I’ve gone mad, but… Thank you, either way. So, from what I understand, it all started when he went to Hogwarts, and was sorted into Gryffindor…”

—

Remus felt like he was going to puke as he continued walking through the mess that was Diagon Alley. It wasn’t quite time for back to school shopping to start, but the place was always busy, no matter what time of year it was.

He knew that dog. He knew that dog better than anyone else alive would.

That dog, who was with Harry. Resting his head on the boy’s knee like he was just a loyal companion, and not a backstabbing traitor.

Oh god, Harry. Sweet, sweet Harry.

Who looked just like James, but had Lily’s eyes, and yet… Looked nothing like them at all. James and Lily never looked so… Haunted.

No child should have eyes like that. Eyes that looked upon an adult with so much mistrust and fear.

What had happened to him?

What made him so… Instinctively on edge when he was approached?

And why the hell had Sirius been so ballsy as to approach the boy in public, even in Animagus form? Was it to gain his trust so he could kill him later? To trick him into thinking he was just a harmless dog?

He didn’t know, and he didn’t like that fact.

He felt completely out of the loop, like so much of the world had moved on without him as he languished in that tiny cabin in Wales.

And maybe it had. Maybe the world moved on faster than he’d realized.

But he couldn’t wallow in his grief and self hate anymore, not when he had something so important to do.

He wasn’t going to let Sirius take what little of his family he had left.

He wasn’t going to lose Harry too, not if he could help it.

Remus took a slow, deep breath, running a hand through his hair before he ducked into one of the side alleys.

He had a man to speak to about a Hinkypunk, after all.

Chapter Text

Albus sucked in a sharp breath, pinching the bridge of his nose as he grit his teeth. Very few things truly infuriated him like this, but right now, looking Cornelius in the eye as the man explained his foolhardy plans for protecting the students at Hogwarts made him feel as though he were about to have an aneurysm.

Not for the first time since Cornelius had become Minister, mind, but it was still what he was feeling in that moment.

“Cornelius… Please repeat yourself one more time. Just… Just so I know I did hear you properly. If you would.” He said softly, looking back over at the man.

“Well, as you know… Witches and Wizards can be fooled by polyjuice, and disguises… Basically any and all means of hiding someone’s appearance and presence can fool us, but… Dementors won’t be fooled by anything.” Cornelius explained. “As such, I would like for Hogwarts to host some of the Azkaban Dementors until Black is caught. He’s on orders to be Kissed as soon as he’s found, either way, so it shouldn’t be long that he’s there.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“It’s the best that we can come up with. The man is dangerous, and he said, very plainly, that his target is at Hogwarts. Who else could his target be than young Harry?”

Albus nodded slowly, taking off his hat and running a hand over his hair, a deep sigh escaping him.

“...I must admit. I fear for the safety of the students.” He said after a moment, slowly settling into the chair across from the Minister’s. “As you’ve said, the Dementors aren’t fooled by disguises or charms, but they also cannot always tell the difference between the one they’re supposed to be hunting, and those who are simply in the way.”

“They won’t enter the grounds, Albus. I would never put the students in danger like that.” Cornelius shook his head. “No, they’ll circle around the outside of the grounds, making sure that no one unauthorized can get in or out.”

He sighed, nodding again as he leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping against the arm rest as he began to think.

“...We’ll need a heavy supply of chocolate at the school.” He said after a moment. “And all of the teachers will need to be informed. We’ll need to keep a closer eye on our students this year, keep track of their mental health as much as possible.”

Cornelius nodded. “The Ministry will fund any necessary preparations. Chocolate, mind healers… Whatever you may need. Oh, and… If you’re able to find a way… Might I suggest keeping Harry out of Hogsmeade as much as possible?”

Albus’ eyes widened a bit, and he looked over at the Minister in shock. “...Keep him out of Hogsmeade?”

“Yes. I… I worry that Black may try and snatch him away when he’s down in the village. I don’t know how you would do it, but for his sake… I would like it if you could keep him away as much as possible.”

He pursed his lips, shaking his head a bit. “He’s a stubborn boy, Cornelius. He’ll find a way to get there, even if I forbid him.”

“Then give him detentions. Something to work on on the side.”

“He’ll fight it. He always does.”

“I thought him being a fighter is what you had been expecting?”

Albus fought back the urge to groan. He had wanted Harry to be a fighter, someone who fought for the good of others without question, but who was also willing to stand down when necessary.

Unfortunately, he had ended up with a boy who only got involved when something directly involved the people he loves, and who will continue to push and prod until he finds out exactly what he wanted to know.

And it reminded him far, far too much of two young men who he had tried to stop.

“...He fights for all the wrong reasons, Cornelius.” He said after a moment. “I worry for him.”

“Well…” Cornelius chuckled. “I don’t believe you should. Harry is a brilliant young man, you know? And I must say, as much as I want to protect him, I do still feel inclined to be a bit… Forgiving. In fact, Professor Snape wrote to me this past May, telling me of Harry’s intent to take every offered elective at Hogwarts, despite the obvious scheduling conflicts.”

“That is true.”

“As such, I’ve signed off and given him permission to have use of a Time Turner, for this year at least. If he wants to continue with that schedule, and his grades permit, I’ll sign off for further use. Miss Granger has also been given permission for one, as she has the exact same schedule.”

Albus sucked in a breath again, closing his eyes tightly. The use of two Time Turners, in Hogwarts, by two very, very different students…

It was entirely unprecedented, and something that he was not prepared to have to deal with this year alongside Sirius Black and the Dementors.

Merlin, help him.

—

Severus’ hands trembled a bit as he stared at the copies of the Daily Prophet in front of him, each one detailing the escape of a man he hadn’t seen in almost twelve years.

Sirius Black.

And he didn’t know whether or not to laugh or cry. Of course the bastard would manage to escape the inescapable prison, and was now on a goddamn manhunt to finish off what was left of the family he had decimated for his own selfish desires.

He didn’t know how someone so cruel could have ever been related to someone as kind as Regulus was. The damn traitor.

He let out a slow, shaky breath, before a sudden knocking at his door caught his attention.

“...Come in.” He drawled, watching the door as Aurora Sinistra pushed it open, her lips pursed, and her own copy of the Prophet in her hands, although this one was more recent, judging from the different headline.

“Severus. Do you have a minute?” She asked quietly. “I need to talk to you about this. I’m… Worried.”

“Please. I’d love to discuss this as well.” Severus groaned, rubbing his face with his hands as the woman slipped further into the room, closing the door behind her and sitting across from him at his desk. Aurora sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose as she flicked her wand, piling her braids up into a tight bun atop her head.

“...Are you alright?” She asked after a moment. “With this news, and everything that happened… How are you feeling?”

He paused for a moment. How was he feeling? Legitimately?

…He didn’t have a good enough answer for that question.

“I have no idea.” He answered after a moment. “Unfortunately, I’m not surprised, but I’m also not pleased. In the slightest. If anyone was going to figure out how to escape that… That hellhole, it would be Sirius fucking Black.”

“I just can’t believe he would have had the ability to do something like this… And have you heard what Albus has said? That he believes there’s a very real possibility that he may come to Hogwarts?”

“I believe that, at least. It has the Minister in a damn fit. He’s trying to come up with some sort of extra security plan to make sure Black can’t get in, and Albus is not a fan of it. He hasn’t told me exactly what the Minister wants to do, but… It’s not good.”

Aurora looked grim, her lips pursed so hard they nearly disappeared. She rubbed her face, a slow, shaky breath escaping her.

“...Would you happen to have any firewhisky in here?” She asked after a moment. “I feel as though we’ll need it if we’re to continue this conversation.”

“Do you take yours with ice?” Severus nodded, scooting back in his chair and opening a cupboard in his desk, grabbing an unopened bottle of firewhisky and two glasses. The bottle had been a gift from Lucius for his birthday, and he figured that this was as good a time as any to break it open.

“Please. Thank you, Severus.”

“Not a problem.”

He conjured some ice into both glasses, before pouring them both stiff drinks, and handing one of them to her. They simultaneously took deep drinks from their glasses, the action making her smile a bit as she set hers down.

“Ugh… Burns like hell, but tastes brilliant.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “...How serious do you think this is going to end up being?”

Severus paused, nursing his drink a bit as he leaned back in his seat. Considering their current track record, especially when it came to Harry Hartford, there were very few ways this situation could go.

One involved Black getting into the school and attempting to kill his student, which, would then lead to Severus having to kill him. Which, he would do, without a moment of hesitation.

Although the risk of being sent to Azkaban was great with that one.

Another involved the school being on a sort of lockdown for the entire year, which would drive the students mad with cabin fever, and the very idea of dealing with pent up, wild teenagers made him want to retire right then.

The third option, and the one that worried him the most… Was Harry trying to take care of Black by himself.

The boy, and his friends for that matter, had kept what truly happened to Lockhart that night a secret, and they had done a damn good job at hiding it. Unfortunately, his years of being a spy taught him to read between the lines.

He had seen the way Harry fought back a smirk whenever he heard Lockhart’s name. He had seen how Mr. Longbottom had been subdued the next day. Not shaken, no, but just… Subdued. Like he had done something satisfying the night before.

And the rest of his snakes had been much the same.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. That they had avenged the Hartford family’s deaths by taking matters into their own hands like a group of vigilantes.

If he was entirely honest with himself, he was proud of them. Killing the man in the middle of the Forbidden Forest so the creatures within would dispose of his body for them?

A kind of brilliance he expected from his students, but not the one he wanted to see happen this year.

Severus sighed a bit, sitting up. “Unfortunately… I think however serious this ends up being… We’ll have no control over it. All we can do is try to protect our students as best as we can. Because no matter what, they are in danger.”

“Good point.” Aurora nodded a bit. “...And what of Mr. Hartford? Do you think… Do you think he knows?”

“Considering he’s been staying with the Malfoys, and that the boy sticks his nose in absolutely anything you tell him not to? Yes. I’m certain he knows everything, and maybe more than we do at this point.”

“And his friends?”

“Likely also know. Fortunately, that means they’ll be there to help protect him. Unfortunately, they have a habit of taking matters into their own hands.”

“Then we make sure they don’t.” Aurora shrugged, downing the rest of her drink. “Because this… This is different. This isn’t an idiotic Defense professor, or… Or whatever the hell was wrong with Quirrell. This is a man who would happily hurt them to get to Harry.”

“Which, in turn, means that they will gladly try and hurt him.” Severus chucked darkly, shaking his head. “...I believe this year will be what gives me grey hairs.”

“I think it might give the Minister a heart attack. I’m kinda hoping that happens.”

“That would certainly make it interesting. So I hope so as well.”

—

“Cissa? My love, what are you doing?” Lucius asked softly from the doorway of Narcissa’s private study, his brows pinched in concern as he watched his wife dig through old cases and files, tossing pieces of parchment to the side like a madwoman as she attempted to find… Something.

“I’m looking for some of Sirius’ letters… The ones from before we drifted apart…” She said softly. “And the one he sent afterwards. That one, specifically.”

“Why do you need that letter, specifically?”

“Proof. I have… I have proof. I just… I just can’t remember where I put it.”

Lucius nodded slowly, walking over and kneeling on the floor next to his wife, his eyes softening a bit when he saw the tears in her eyes as she continued to dig through the different files. He reached out, cupping her face in his hands and kissing the corners of her eyes in an attempt to soothe her, smiling a bit when she leaned against him, letting him run his hand over her hair and hug her.

“What proof are you looking for?” He asked her, pulling her closer and adjusting her so her head was on his shoulder.

“I could have sworn that… Sirius sent me a letter the day after Harry was born.” Narcissa whispered, her voice breaking. “He was so excited about it that he just… Wrote to me. After years of not speaking, he wrote to me. I treasured that letter so much, and now I can’t find it.”

“Oh, love…”

“It’s silly to cry over such a thing, I know. I just… I wanted to find it. I wanted to make a copy of it so Harry could know that we aren’t the only ones who love him.”

His face turned a bit grim, but he nodded again. He didn’t quite understand Narcissa’s obsession with the idea of Sirius being innocent, but he would be the first to admit that he had a vendetta against the man. Years of seeing the girl, and then the woman, he loved most sobbing over him abandoning her hadn’t softened his heart towards him in the slightest, but…

This was important to his wife. So it was important to him.

“Where was the last place you remember having it?” Lucius asked, kissing the side of her head as he pulled away, starting to look through some of the still unopened files as well.

“Uhm… In one of these folders. I don’t remember which one.” She sniffed, wiping her eyes as she tried to calm herself down once again, grabbing her wand and flicking the files into piles of Searched and Unsearched. “...Thank you, Lucius…”

“You don’t need to thank me, my darling. You want to find this letter, so by the gods we are going to find this letter. I’ll tear the damn manor apart if I have to.”

Narcissa laughed a bit, the sound like a balm to the ache that had formed in his chest when she cried, and he turned to her with a smile, pressing a soft kiss to her lips before he went back to digging through files.

That made this worth it. That laugh was worth everything to him.

Narcissa was worth everything to him.

—

“Dementors? Here? At Hogwarts?!” Minerva nearly shrieked, making Remus flinch a bit.

When he’d been summoned to the castle to discuss the changes for the new year, he’d been expecting rules about the Forbidden Forest, or maybe a tweak to the Quidditch schedule for the year due to the forecasted foul weather that was upon them.

But this? This was so far out of left field it was on a completely different continent.

Albus nodded solemnly. “Unfortunately, yes. Precautions that the Ministry has decided are necessary due to the threat of Sirius Black, as Black is known to be a master of Charms and Transfiguration, it’s well within the possibility that he may try and disguise himself to get into the school. Dementors are one of the only beings in this world that won’t be fooled by a disguise.”

“And yet, they’re also the ones who will be the most dangerous for our students.” Filius replied, crossing his arms. “Albus, the Dementors will cause more harm than good. You know that.”

“I do, but we are putting precautions in place.”

“And what kind of precautions are those?” Severus drawled from where he was standing in the corner, his expression impassive, and yet his eyes bore into the headmaster as though he wished the man would erupt into flames from the force of his glare alone.

Albus smiled genially. “The Ministry has decided that they will be supplying us with plenty of chocolate for the year, and, should we need them, they’ll have a team of Mind Healers ready to come in and help.”

“We’ll need more than that.” Poppy huffed, running a hand through her hair. “We’ll need Pepper-Up potions, and Calming Draughts! Oh, Merlin, we may even need Seizure Recovery Potions, because we don’t know how badly some of the children will react to the Dementors presence…”

Remus frowned more, opening his mouth to speak but being quickly silenced by Severus’ voice.

“Poppy. Write down a list of every potion you need. I’ll do what I can to get them done in a timely manner.” He said softly. “I’ll keep a constant stock in my office as well. If I can brew enough, I would recommend all of you keep a stock of them as well. We don’t know if the students will be able to get to the Hospital Wing quickly enough if, Merlin forbid, there is a Dementor attack.”

He took that chance to chime in. “If need be, I can head down to Honeydukes and place bulk orders. It may be easier for us to keep a stack of chocolate bars, rather than a chocolate brick we break chunks off of.”

Albus nodded. “A wonderful idea, Remus. We would be very grateful if you could do that. You know the chocolate supply at Honeydukes better than the rest of us, after all.”

“Yes, sir.” He smiled a bit, but pressed himself back up against the wall when he felt Severus’ harsh glare turn back towards him. He knew that would be the case if he said a word during this meeting, but he wasn’t expecting it to be so… Instantaneous.

Pomona was the only head of house who hadn’t spoken yet, her face drawn and tired. She let out a shaky sigh, tilting her head up so she could look at the ceiling.

“...This year will be just as painful as last. I can feel it.” She said softly, causing Minerva to gently rest her hand on her arm.

“Oh, hush, Pomona…” The other woman said softly. “You sound like Sybil when you speak like that… I may not like it either, but, we’ll at least be able to help the students if something does happen…”

Remus stood up a bit, looking around at the rest of the professors. Their grim, worried faces, eyes that flicked around the room, desperate to not make contact with anyone else and let slip that they, too, were just as afraid of what was to come for this year.

Eventually, his gaze fell on Severus, who was staring down at the floor and muttering something to himself. He tilted his head to the side a bit, trying to focus his hearing to figure out what, exactly, he was saying.

“Bicorn horn… I need to put in another order for that… We have plenty of mandrake root after last year, so I won’t need to worry about that… Pomona has a large stock of jewelweed in the greenhouses… Damn, I’ll need to special order the ingredients for the recovery potions… I don’t have any of those on hand…”

He relaxed a bit, tilting his head back to its normal position. He was just talking about the different potions ingredients he would need.

Albus slowly made his way over to Remus, resting a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “Thank you again for offering to take this position, Remus… I believe the students will benefit from having you as a professor.”

“Thank you, Albus. I hope so.” He chuckled a bit, his attention only half on what the headmaster was saying. His gaze kept flicking back towards Severus, who was quietly speaking with the Astronomy professor, Aurora. Both of them seemed to go pale at the same time, before Severus went flying out of the staff room. He frowned, moving to follow behind him, before Aurora spoke.

“Albus. Severus and I are going to go and ward the Astronomy Tower.” She said quickly. “That way we don’t have to worry about a student taking a swan dive if we can’t get to them in time.”

The headmaster faltered for a moment, his eyes going wide. “Yes, yes. Good idea. Go.”

She nodded, before she tore off after Severus, the sounds of her footsteps quickly fading as the two Slytherin professors went up to the Astronomy Tower.

After a moment, and a bit more panic from the rest of the professors who taught in the towers deciding to go and ward theirs as well, Remus and Albus were left alone in the staff room.

Both men let out shaky breaths, looking at each other with worried gazes.

“...We’ll continue our discussion later, Remus.” The old man nodded slowly. “I’m going to go and see if there are any changes that need to be made to the Hogwarts wards as a whole.”

“Alright. Talk to you later, professor.” He replied, making his way over to one of the chairs and sitting down, listening to the old wooden door shut gently as he put his head in his hands.

It seems that Hogwarts had just gotten more and more dangerous in the years since he graduated.

And what a wonderful thing it will be to teach these children of war how to defend themselves against darkness when the personification of it all will be just outside of their school.

He should never have agreed to this.

—

The soft clicking of Sirius’ claws against the sidewalk was the only sound that could be heard on the dark London street.

He knew this area like the back of his hand, even fifteen years after he’d last been here. A left here, a sharp right there, go straight for another half mile, and wait fifteen seconds for Grimmauld Place to appear.

His mother had warded the place so well back when she was still alive that it took a moment for the house to recognize that it was a wizard looking for it, so there had been more than a few times that she’d had to come outside just to let him back in after he’d snuck out for the afternoon, only to be berated and shouted at for “dishonoring the family” and “acting as an impertinent fool”.

Good times.

He huffed a bit, his tail flicking from side to side as he set the small wicker basket down, shaking himself off before he picked it up by the handle again and continued walking.

Walking around as Padfoot was easier. He didn’t get recognized, even in Muggle London, and his thoughts were a thousand times easier to comprehend when he was a dog.

It was always easier being Padfoot, but that meant he didn’t have hands.

And carrying a basket, one that was filled with gifts, needed hands.

He slowed down a bit when he came to the familiar line of houses, heading to Numbers Eleven and Thirteen, pacing back and forth while he waited for Number Twelve to appear, finally registering him as, well… Him.

Sirius made his way up the steps, setting the basket down and looking back and forth for a moment, making sure that there was no one outside who would see him. Once he was sure he was in the clear, he turned back to his human self, taking a deep breath and grabbing the serpentine door knocker, slamming it three times before he took off running back across the street, heading into the small park on the other side and ducking into the shadows.

He watched the front door for a moment, waiting for it to open. He really, really hoped Kreacher wasn’t the one to open the door, because that would mean Harry wasn’t here, even if his nose was telling him otherwise.

But, his scent was still fresh, so he was here.

His heart leapt into his throat when he saw the front door open, and there he was.

Harry.

His pup. His baby.

His beloved godson. The one person in this world who he would do any and everything for.

One of the only goddamn reasons he was still alive.

Harry looked down at the basket curiously, his eyes flicking around to try and figure out who left it, before he knelt down and began to sort through everything Sirius had put into it.

It wasn’t much, mind, because while he knew the Gringotts goblins wouldn’t sell him out, he still didn’t want the few human staff members at Gringotts to realize his accounts were active again, because Merlin knows that would be dangerous.

But, he wanted to give him a little gift, a few snacks, drinks, and a new pair of winter gloves for the year. He’d missed his birthday by a few days, but… That didn’t matter. He still got the gift to him.

That was what was most important in his mind.

Harry had a soft smile on his face, an expression that looked so much like James’, but completely different at the same time.

The boy stood up, picking up the basket and looking around again.

“...Thank you.” He called out gently. “I have no idea who you are, but… Thank you.”

And Sirius grinned. He was still a little sweetheart.

He watched as Harry slipped back into Grimmauld Place, waiting for the door to shut and lock behind him before he turned back into Padfoot and began walking away.

As much as he’d like to stay and watch over his pup, he had a mission to attend to, and he’d like to know how much Hogwarts has changed since he was a student there, before he finally began preparing for the one murder he actually would commit.

It may have taken twelve years, but finally, Peter Pettigrew would fucking die for what he’d done.

For Harry’s sake, and his own.

Chapter Text

Harry looked around his room, going through a mental checklist of everything he had packed, and everything he still needed to. He had his clothes, he had his books, and he had all of his school supplies that Narcissa and Lord Malfoy had so graciously helped him purchase.

Everything he needed for school was put away in his school trunk, which was stuck at the foot of his bed, ready to go on the Hogwarts express in exactly sixteen days.

The rest of what he needed to pack, however, was laid out on his bed as he folded up clothes, shoving them into a suitcase every time an outfit was fully put together. He hummed softly as he worked, each set of clothes slotting perfectly into the magically expanded suitcase, and by the time he was done, he was even able to jam a few books, his walkman, and the camera that Neville had bought him for his birthday in as well.

His birthday had been a quiet affair that year, mostly due to the fact that he desperately didn’t want to celebrate. It just didn’t feel right, after the year he’d had, and instead of doing any real celebrating, he’d locked himself up in Grimmauld Place and didn’t come out until the first.

And thankfully, no one said anything about it, although there was a small pile of presents sitting on his bed back at Malfoy Manor, each one from one of his friends or their families. Neville, of course, had purchased him a magically altered polaroid camera, that way he could take pictures of whatever ‘made him happy’, as described in his note.

He, in turn, had gotten Neville his own baby venomous tentacula, which made the boy cry out of excitement and declare he was calling the plant Regina.

Which, in Harry’s mind, was a perfect name for that hellspawn of a plant.

Blaise had gotten him a fancy, leatherbound journal which would turn the writing to gibberish if someone else opened it, that way he could spill out whatever was on his mind without worry. Draco had gone for a simple gift, and had gotten him a Slytherin green, wool scarf that had built in warming charms.

Luna had made him a pair of dangly earrings shaped like what Harry was fairly certain were tiny beetroots, which he was currently wearing, and a charm necklace made out of butterbeer caps, of which she had a matching set.

Daphne had gotten him a few pairs of hair cutting shears as well, just in case he decided to “have a mild breakdown and lob off your hair again”.

And considering the fact that he asked her to help her fix his hair a bit not even five hours later, he would say that gift was already well worth its weight.

Each gift was simple, not nearly as extravagant as the year before, but that was exactly what he had wanted. Simplicity, nothing crazy.

He just wasn’t feeling like having a birthday that year.

“Harry! Are you almost packed?!” Draco’s sharp call snapped him out of his thoughts, making him blink a few times as he checked over his bag one more time, before he zipped it up and dragged it out of his room and down the stairs.

“I’m packed, I’m packed!”

He smiled down at Draco and Theo when he saw them, the two boys standing in the sitting room, waiting for the third member of their party to arrive so they could get ready to leave.

Narcissa was there as well, a gentle smile on her face as she walked over, kissing Harry on either cheek before she took a step back.

“Alright, my darlings… I’ll see you all in a week, okay?” She said softly. “Be good for Juliana, don’t do anything dangerous, and have fun, would you? It’s a last hurrah before school starts up again.”

“We’ll be safe, Mother. I promise.” Draco nodded a bit, before he rushed forward and pulled her into a tight hug. She hugged back just as tight, squeezing her son and kissing the top of his head.

Then, she reached out and pulled the other two boys in as well, hugging them all so tightly it was squeezing the air out of them. Harry laughed a bit, the sound strangled and almost wheezy as he tried to hug her back. When she finally released them, she blinked away a few tears, taking a deep breath.

“Ah… You’ve all made me soft.” Narcissa chuckled. “Alright, well… If you stay any longer, I’ll find a reason to just, keep you all here until school starts again, so go on. Into the fireplace with you.”

Theo rolled his eyes affectionately, grabbing his bag and heading over to the fireplace, stepping into it and grabbing some of the floo powder.

“Zabini Villa!” He called out, throwing the powder down and disappearing in a rush of green flame. Draco followed close behind him, and Harry went last, giving Narcissa one more bright smile before he, too, went through, stepping out into an open living area, the fresh, salty sea air hitting him from the wide open balcony doors.

Before he could call out a greeting, however, a small, blonde body tackle hugged him, causing him to drop his suitcase so he could catch her.

“Luna!” He laughed a bit, adjusting his hold on her so her arms were around his shoulders, and his were under hers. Once he had a grip on her, he stood up straight, picking her up an inch or two off the ground.

“Hello, Harry.” Luna smiled a bit, lifting her head up a bit so she could smile at him. “Your earrings make you look very handsome.”

“Aw, thank you. I love them a lot.” Harry grinned, walking forward as best as he could with his friend in his arms before he set her down, looking around at the living room.

From what he knew, Zabini Villa was a massive, ocean view property on the side of a cliff, looking out over the Mediterranean Sea. The town it was in, Santuario Della Strega, was one of Italy’s few completely wixen communities. There were a few muggles here and there, mostly spouses of some of the witches or wizards within the town’s boundaries, but everywhere one looked, there was magic.

And the Villa showed that in spades. Books fluttered about like birds overhead, going in and out of bookshelves. Some of them went down towards a desk where a Copy-Write quill was scribbling down sections of each book, before letting them fly up back to the bookshelves.

There were wind chimes made of seashells and sea glass that clinked together with the fresh breeze, and all around him was the soft, static-like feeling of Mrs. Zabini’s magic.

It was brilliant.

“Harry! Welcome, darling!” The woman in question called, a bright smile on her face as she made her way over to the two of them. Harry grinned, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug, which she easily reciprocated. “The others are all up in their rooms, getting ready to go down to the beach. Would you like to join us?”

“Absolutely. Which room is mine?” He asked softly, pulling away and looking up at her.

“Next to Theodore’s, across from Luna’s. Could you show him the way, darling?”

“Of course, Contessa.” Luna smiled, watching as Harry trotted over to his suitcase and grabbed it, before taking his hand and leading him up a short flight of stairs to the hall of bedrooms. He could hear excited chattering from each of the rooms, and, just going off of the feel of everyone’s magic, he easily figured out which bedroom was his.

“Thanks, Lue. I’ll be out in a second, okay?”

“Okay.” She nodded, before she grabbed her wand and tapped Harry’s glasses with them, causing a slight, silvery sheen to go over them for a moment before they cleared up again. At his confused look, she just smiled. “So the water doesn’t stick to them, and so they stick to your face, silly. It would be sad if you couldn’t see while we’re down there.”

“Oh! Brilliant!” He laughed a bit, before he ducked into his bedroom to get changed.

He’d never been to a beach like the ones in Italy before, most of his seaside experiences being the ones in Southend-on-Sea with his mum, so he was really excited to experience the warm sand and water, instead of the frigidness he was so used to back in London.

Maybe he was a bit reptilian, like his friends liked to tease.

Either way, the beach was calling to them, and he didn’t have a moment to lose.

—

“Ow ow ow ow-” Harry muttered under his breath as he sprinted across the burning hot sand. The stone stairs that he and his friends had walked down to actually go down to the beach were cool to the touch, which had caused him to just take off his sandals so he could feel the sand properly out of sheer excitement.

And boy, was it a mistake.

With his shoes in one hand, a picnic basket in the other, and his towel thrown over his head like a cowl, he tore off across the sand the second his feet touched it, and was currently going straight towards the massive cabana that Mrs. Zabini had conjured for their day on the beach. As soon as he crossed the threshold, a small blast of cool air hit him, and he let out a deep sigh of relief.

After a few moments, the rest of his friends arrived as well, all of them in tears from laughing.

“Are you okay?” Daphne asked through her giggles. “I’ve never seen you run so fast before!”

“It hurt!” He protested, although their laughter made him chuckle as well. Mrs. Zabini made her way in as well, shaking her head with a smile on her face.

“Did you get burned?”

“Nope. It just hurt.”

“Thank goodness…”

Harry smiled a bit, looking around the inside of the cabana curiously. It was massive on the inside, with a large, wicker sofa, a stack of beach chairs, umbrellas, and plenty of extra towels on one side, while the other had what appeared to be a small kitchen, like what one would find in a nicer hotel room.

Neville hummed, grabbing the picnic basket from him and heading into the kitchen, starting to put the food they had brought down away. As he did that, Mrs Zabini walked over to everyone, tapping their foreheads with her wand and sending a soft, golden sheen over them that disappeared after a second. When she reached Harry, she did the same.

“Sunblocking charm. That way none of you get burned.” She explained, before she did the same to herself.

“Brilliant.”

“Is it not? It still needs to be applied every few hours, however, it is very effective.”

Harry stood up carefully, setting his towel to the side as he watched everyone unload their belongings. The excitement in the air was palpable, and once their stuff had been put away properly, they all lined up at the edge of the cabana, ready to sprint across the sand and straight into the ocean.

“Do not go past your hips!” Mrs. Zabini called out to them as she grabbed one of the beach chairs and umbrellas, flicking her wand and sending them a bit to the side of where the kids were going to run, the umbrella opening itself on its own and setting itself up. “Come back up in two and a half hours to get your charm reapplied! If you are hungry or thirsty, come up and get what you need, but then take a few minutes before you go back into the water.”

“Yes, Mamma!” Blaise called, giving her a thumbs up.

“Alright! Go!”

And with that, they all sprinted across the sand, laughter bubbling up out of them once again as they ran headfirst into the cool water ahead. Daphne dived in without a second thought, disappearing under the waves for a moment before popping back up, having to wade back over to the rest of the group with a grin across her face.

“The water is so clear! It’s beautiful!” She laughed, whipping her hair out of her face. “A part of me wants to dive out as far as I can just to see what’s out there.”

“I wouldn’t.” Neville chuckled a bit, still standing up near the sand, barely up to his knees.

“Oh, don’t worry, Neville. There aren’t any Big-Gilled Goshwangers in the water. You don’t need to worry!” Luna called over to him, wading further into the water and grabbing a massive chunk of seaweed, lifting it up over her head and letting the water drip down onto her. The boy in question shook his head a bit.

“Thank you, Luna, but I think I’m okay up here. The ocean makes me nervous.”

Harry nodded a bit. “My mum was terrified of the ocean. She never went past her ankles whenever we’d visit the beach.”

“How did you not end up scared?” Draco asked, raising a brow as he swam over to them, getting knocked under by the waves for a moment and popping back up, spitting water out of his mouth.

“I have, no idea, honestly. Dad didn’t like the ocean either, but he also didn’t like heights. I think he just preferred having his arse on solid ground.”

Theo snorted. “I can relate to that. You guys and your Quidditch scares the absolute hell out of me. I’m always scared I’m going to watch you topple to your deaths.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve had to be scared all that often! The season got canceled last year!” Blaise groaned, flopping back into the water and almost getting toppled over by another wave, spluttering as he righted himself.

“Still, I watched you bastards practice every time there was one, and I thought my heart was going to leap out my mouth whenever one of you nearly fell.”

Harry snickered, adjusting his glasses before he dived under the water, quietly thankfully that Luna had charmed them before they’d come down to the beach, swimming over to where Theo was standing and rising back out of the water in front of him, a grin on his face.

Theo, in response, immediately got startled and tried to karate chop him in the neck, which caused him to recoil with a startled laugh.

“You fucker!” He cackled after a moment, splashing Harry with water, and then getting splashed back in turn.

Before long, Blaise and Luna had gotten wrapped up in the splash fight as well, attempting to use Draco and Daphne as human shields while Neville refereed, calling out whatever he decided was a foul or unsportsmanlike behavior, such as when Draco, who was sick of being a human shield, picked Luna up, screamed at the top of his lungs, and dunked them both under the water.

It was complete and utter chaos in the best way possible, and by the time they had been summoned out of the sea to have their Sunblocking charms reapplied, they were all soaked to the bone and covered in sand, even Neville, who still hadn’t gone in the water past his knees.

Mrs. Zabini laughed a bit when she saw them, shaking her head with a smile on her face as she blasted them with a quick jet of air to clean the sand off of them before they entered the cabana.

Harry was the first to get the charm reapplied, humming softly as he made his way into the kitchen, grabbing the loaf of bread and other sandwich supplies, and just… Starting to make sandwiches. Once the others realized what he was doing, they made their way over, waiting patiently for him to hand them all their food.

It was quiet, and peaceful, with the only sounds filling the air being the crashing of the waves and the cries of the seagulls, who Luna was trying to lure over to her with chunks of turkey meat.

It wasn’t working, yet, but considering the determined look on her face, Harry was fairly certain she would have caught at least one seagull by the time the day was out, and the thought brought a smile to his face.

So, he walked over to her, kneeling down at her side with the container of lunchmeat and taking bites of his sandwich as he, too, attempted to lure the seagulls over.

As he threw chunks of turkey and ham over at the birds, a realization hit him, the same way the ham smacked the seagull in the side of the head.

This was the happiest he’d been in months.

This was the most at peace he’d felt since his parents died.

And he… He didn’t quite know how to feel about that fact.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Luna looped her arm through his, hugging him closer as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“...You don’t need to feel guilty for being happy, Harry.” She said softly. “I don’t think your Mum, Dad, or your sister would have wanted you to be so sad… You deserve to feel like this whenever you want to.”

“...Thanks, Lue.” He murmured, kissing the top of her head as he closed his eyes. “You always know just what to say…”

“I just say what I would want to hear.”

“And that makes you absolutely brilliant.” Harry grinned down at her, resting his head on hers.

Yeah, he didn’t need to feel guilty about being happy.

He could enjoy his life if he wanted to. That’s what his family would have wanted.

And that’s exactly what he was going to do.

—

“Blaise. Blaise, you’re speaking Italian again.” Draco sighed softly, looking at their friend, who had just come running out of his mother’s office, speaking so quickly that none of them could really make out what he was saying. Blaise’s face flushed a bit, and he cleared his throat.

“Sorry, sorry.” He said quickly. “I was just excited. Mamma and I always speak Italian when it’s just us.”

“It’s okay.” Theo chuckled a bit, looking up from his book as Harry continued to run his fingers through his hair. “What’s up?”

“Vicolo del Drago.”

“...Drago. Dragon?”

“Yes! Dragon Alley!”

That, made them all sit up and look at him more seriously.

“What’s Dragon Alley?” Daphne asked curiously.

“It’s like… Like Diagon Alley, but better.” Blaise explained. “I don’t know how else to explain it. You know how Diagon is sort of built to cater to Hogwarts students? Vicolo del Drago is, basically, another wixen community, that just also happens to contain all of the necessary shops that you would need for Tanaquilla.”

Harry paused for a moment, looking over at Theo with a raised brow.

Blaise, however, answered for him. “Tanaquilla Accademia de Stregoneria. The Italian Academy of Witchcraft.”

“Oh! Okay. So… What’s up with… Vicolo del Drago? Why are you so excited?”

“Because, while we missed the Lammas festival on the first, the Festival of Lights is tonight. And we’re going.”

“Holy shit?” Draco gasped, jumping up. “Are you serious?”

“Yes! Mamma has already sent all of our clothes to our rooms, so we can go get ready now and enjoy the entire festival! Let’s go, let’s go!”

The pure excitement in Blaise’s voice sent everyone up to their feet and scrambling into their wing of the house, slipping into their rooms to get changed. Harry smiled a bit when he saw that, just like his friend had said, there was a set of clothes laid out on his bed.

He got changed as quickly as he could, having to adjust himself more than a few times as he looked at himself in the mirror. The clothes, he realized with a grin, looked almost like a vampire’s, or maybe even a pirate’s.

A crisp, white poet’s shirt that was slightly open at the chest, a pair of black, high waisted trousers, a sage green shawl to wrap around his shoulders, and a pair of simple leather sandals.

“I look like the coolest fucking vampire right now…” He murmured, turning around in the mirror a few times to look at himself. “Holy shit…”

Harry ran his hands through his hair a few more times, trying to straighten it out a bit, and giving up once realized that no, his hair would not be listening to his commands this evening. Once that had settled in, he grabbed his bag, pulled it over his shoulder, and slipped out of his room, heading back to the living room, where he was greeted with the sight of his friends dressed in a similar fashion.

All of the boys wore the same white poet’s shirts and black trousers, but they all had different colored shawls. Lavender for Blaise, black for Draco, a honey color for Neville, and a deep blue for Theo.

Daphne and Luna had the same shawls, although in turquoise and magenta, respectively, but they were wearing white peasant dresses.

He grinned a bit. “Well. Don’t we all look like we walked straight out of a period piece.”

Blaise laughed, adjusting his shawl a bit. “Yeah. It’s traditional. We dress simply because there’s no need for status, or any of that. During the festival, we’re all just… Wixen.”

“I like that. Is your Mum getting ready?”

“I am already ready.” Mrs. Zabini laughed as she emerged from her wing of the house, leaning down just a bit to kiss her son’s cheek, dressed much the same as they were, although her shawl was a shimmering gold. “And it seems you all are as well.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Daphne nodded, standing up carefully. “How are we getting to the festival?”

“The floo. It is much simpler than trying to apparate everyone there.” She hummed. “You can pronounce it as either Vicolo del Drago, or Dragon Alley. Whichever one is easier for you. Blaise, would you start us off?”

Blaise nodded excitedly, rushing over to the large fireplace and stepping into it, grabbing the floo powder and calling out.

“Vicolo del Drago!”

Before he was pulled away by the green flames. One by one, each of them went through, with most of the group just sticking with the english translation, that way they didn’t end up in the middle of nowhere.

When Harry stepped through, however, he sucked in a breath, his eyes going wide as he looked around at the sheer amount of colors surrounding him. Like his first visit to Diagon Alley, he felt the sudden rush of magic come over him, but instead of the sharp punch to the face that had been, this just felt like a weighted blanket had been laid over his shoulders.

Comforting and warm.

The alley, which likely was just full with regular shops during non-festival days, was lined with stalls selling any and everything from food to magical amulets and spellbooks. One stall, he noted with a bit of delight, was selling False Wands which fired small, glittering sparks that would take the form of different animals when shot out.

A small group of children rushed past him, shooting said glittering sparks at each other, flashes of dragons and unicorns and other magical creatures flickering across his vision.

Above the chatter and the sounds of people walking, the lively music from somewhere further in the alley was being carried over, although it still sounded like he was standing right next to the band.

He quickly rushed forward to meet with the rest of his friends, grinning at Neville while he grabbed his hands and laced their fingers together, starting to dance along to the music. It took his friend a minute to go along with it, but once he did, they both started to laugh, spinning each other around and doing what could maybe, possibly, pass for a waltz.

If a waltz was being done by two incredibly unsteady baby deer on ice skates after drinking six cups of coffee each, because neither one of them had an ounce of rhythm in their movements.

Mrs. Zabini made her way over to them as well, looking around and taking a deep, content breath, before she had to fight back giggles at the sight of the two boys.

“Ah… It has been far too long since I have enjoyed an event like this… But do not feel like you need to stay with me the entire time. Go. Have fun. Be responsible.” She chuckled. “We will meet back here after the release of the lanterns.”

“Are you sure?” Blaise asked with wide eyes.

“Yes, but just… Always stick with at least one other person. Please. It would be terrible if one of you got lost.”

Instinctively, Harry reached out and grabbed Theo’s hand after pulling one away from Neville, already knowing that they were all likely to just go as a group, but still wanting to be sure that they stuck close together.

After a few more minutes of chatter, Mrs. Zabini shooed them off, and, not for the first time that summer, they were left to their own devices.

“So, what should we do first?” Draco asked them as they began to wander around, looking at the different shops and stalls.

Luna hummed beside him, her eyes flickering around until they seemed to follow… Something. She stopped suddenly, causing Harry to bump into her.

He was about to apologize, before he saw where her eyes had landed, and he bit back a grin.

With the level of seriousness that one would expect from a surgeon delivering the news of a tragic death, Luna raised her arm, pointed at one of the stands up ahead and said, very simply.

“Cannoli.”

They all stared for a moment, before soft murmurs of agreement filled the air.

“You know what? Yeah. Fuck yeah, let’s get cannolis.” Blaise nodded firmly, already starting to walk forward towards the stand, the rest of their friends in tow.

Harry laughed softly, his hand squeezing Theo’s a bit as they walked, giving him a bright smile, and getting one right back.

This was going to be a great night. He just knew it.

—

“You look tired.” Theo chuckled softly as he walked up behind Harry, a small smile on his face as he held up two frosty glass bottles. The other boy sighed in relief, leaning back against the railing of the staircase landing they were on.

He’d slipped away from most of the group a few minutes before, deciding to take a short break from the sheer amount of people in the area and get some fresh air. Vicolo del Drago was, wonderfully, in another seaside town, which meant that they still had an amazing view of the ocean no matter where they were.

The sun had set a few hours before and, like Theo said, Harry was tired. His body ached from dancing, he’d eaten plenty of delicious food, and he just needed a moment away to appreciate just how beautiful the area they were in was.

His friend slipped up to his side, cracking both bottles open on the stone railing and handing one to him.

“It’s like, a sparkling lemonade.” He explained. “At least, I think it is. My Italian is terrible as is, and he was talking so damn fast.”

Harry chuckled a bit, taking a sip of his drink. Yep, sparkling lemonade.

“You nailed it.” He smiled. “Thanks, Theo…”

“No problem, Harry. I didn’t want you to just… Be by yourself.”

“I appreciate it.”

The two of them stood in silence for a while, sipping their drinks, their shoulders just barely pressed together as they gazed out at the sea, the night sky above them so dark it was nearly black.

But not quite.

Harry slowly moved to rest his head against Theo’s shoulder, a soft hum escaping him as he closed his eyes. His friend let out a soft, shuddering breath, before he slowly moved his arm around him, hugging him closer.

“...This has been nice.” He said softly, looking up at Theo, who, for a split second, seemed like he had been gazing down at him like he was the most important person in the world.

The second their eyes met, however, his face lit up bright red and he averted his gaze.

“Yeah. It’s… It’s been amazing.” Theo nodded. “All of this has been, just… Incredible.”

Harry hummed a bit, nestling closer to him as he took a deep breath.

“...Uh, Harry?” He asked quietly, pulling his attention back up to him. “Listen… I… I know it’s, like… Way after your birthday, and I know I probably should have given this to you then, but… I wanted to see your reaction to it when I gave it to you.”

He paused, standing up straight again and studying his friend a bit.

“Okay?”

Theo smiled nervously, biting the inside of his cheek as he reached down into his pocket, pulling out what looked to be a large, black gemstone wrapped in silver, like a pendant on a necklace.

“This is…” He sighed after a moment. “This, used to belong to my Mother. And it… It belonged to her mother. It’s a tradition that’s been in her family for centuries, that… That you give this pendant to the person you want to protect most…”

Harry’s eyes widened a bit as he stared down at the pendant, his breath catching in his throat.

“...It’s supposed to guide you back to where you’ll be safest. Where you’ll always be loved. That day… That day on the train, when we first met, it warmed up when I walked past you and Blaise in your compartment. That’s why I went in. It… It… Brought me to you… And… With everything that happened last year, I just… I want to make sure you always come back home.”

Theo slowly looked up at him, his expression nervous and his eyes soft. Without thinking, Harry surged forward, throwing his arms around his friend’s shoulders and hugging him tightly, a shuddering breath escaping him as he hugged back.

“...Thank you, Theo.” He whispered, burying his face in his friend’s neck. He smiled a bit, feeling his friend slide a hand into his hair and pull him closer.

“It’s… It’s nothing, really. It’s, kinda silly… It’s probably just a superstition, but…” Theo said quietly, watching as Harry pulled away, gently taking the pendant from him and taking off the necklace that held his parent’s rings.

“I don’t think it’s silly at all. If it brought you into my life, then it’s brilliant.” He smiled, carefully unclasping the necklace and slipping his mum’s ring off, sticking it between his teeth for a moment as he slid the pendant on, before slipping the ring back on and clipping it back onto his neck.

Harry brought his hand up to the pendant and rings, wrapping them up for a moment and smiling.

“Yeah. That feels good.” He nodded. “Y’know, with the amount of jewelry I wear on a daily basis now, I feel like some sort of old timey monarch. I’ve got six rings on my person right now. Six!”

Theo chuckled a bit. “...You’re brilliant, you know that?”

He scoffed, about to come back with some silly jibe about how Theo was the brilliant one, when there was a sudden hush over the crowd. The music was still playing, although a much softer tune, and the sudden lack of sound brought both boys’ attention away from each other and up into the sky, where lanterns were beginning to float above their heads.

Harry sucked in a breath, his eyes going wide as he watched them drift along the gentle breeze, heading out to sea.

“Oh… They’re beautiful…” He said quietly.

He turned to look at Theo, who was still looking right at him, his eyes still soft and full of utter adoration.

And he felt his chest tighten.

He’s seen that expression before.

He bit his lip for a moment, and he slowly leaned in, having to stand on his toes just a bit to reach, his eyes fluttering closed as he felt Theo’s breath against his lips.

And then-

“Harry! Theo!” Draco called, causing the two boys to fling themselves back from one another, their eyes wide and faces scarlet, before turning towards their friends, who were quickly approaching with their own lanterns in hand. They all had bright smiles on their faces as they rushed over.

Luna handed them both one of their own, a knowing expression on her face as she smiled at them.

“We figured you guys didn’t get the chance to grab lanterns of your own.” Blaise explained, grabbing his wand and unfolding his lantern, pressing the tip of it to the candle wick inside. The rest of them followed suit, unfolding their lanterns and letting him light the candles. “So… When you release them, you make a wish. It can be for whatever. You can wish for good luck, happiness, love, literally anything. Then, when they float out to sea, it lets the spirits know what you desire most.”

“Like wishing on a shooting star?” Harry asked, his voice trembling just a bit as he gently cradled his lantern.

“Exactly.”

“Okay…” He nodded a bit, looking up at the cascading river of lanterns above their heads, and slowly lifting his own to join them, watching his friends do the same out of the corners of his eyes. He smiled, just a bit, watching as they drifted up and away from them, being carried along the breeze further out to sea.

He felt Theo’s hand before he realized what it actually was, smiling a bit when he felt their fingers lace together, giving his hand a little squeeze for good measure.

Harry rested his head on his… On Theo’s shoulder, watching the shimmering yellow river flow across the dark sky.

He didn’t have anything he wanted to wish for, at least, not for anything that could reasonably come true.

He had everything he wanted, and maybe, just maybe, if he can bring himself to be a little bit braver… He could let himself have just a little bit more.

Chapter Text

Leaving Strega’s Santuario was like stepping out of a genuinely happy dream. Days of frolicking in the sun, splashing in the waves, and relishing in what summer could be had left Harry with a tan, slightly crunchy hair from the sea salt, and a deep seated realization that the feelings he had for one of his best friends are way, way more than platonic.

Although, after that near kiss during the Festival of Lights, neither one of them had made a further move.

They were certainly more affectionate with one another, constantly toeing the line between what most people would see as normal, friendly behavior and something more, but that felt perfectly natural for the both of them.

And returning to reality, in cold, rainy London, didn’t dampen that.

Harry hummed a bit, running a hand through his hair and shaking it out a bit as he stared down at his bed. Despite the fact that he’d packed everything he needed for school before they’d left on vacation, he had unpacked a lot of the non-necessities and was going over them once again.

His walkman, which he’d been fiddling with to try and get it to work on magic? He was taking that. Being around so much magic at Hogwarts would probably help his experiments.

Gid’s lighter and lighter fluid? Also yes. Fire spells were great, but sometimes, he just needed to light things up the muggle way.

Fiona’s cookbook? That was going to stay here for safekeeping. He’d already copied down a bunch of the recipes that he loved dearly, and he wanted to make sure the original book stayed in good condition.

The carton of cigarettes that he’d snatched up off Gid’s bedside table and stuck in his pocket completely on impulse because he just, saw that they were there and decided to take them?

That was where he was stuck.

The logical side of his brain was telling him to throw them out, to get rid of them, never think of them again, and pretend he’d never even considered the damn things.

The illogical side, which was the louder one, was telling him to hold onto them. Keep them.

Just in case.

Harry didn’t know what the ‘just in case’ his mind had, well, in mind was, but he decided to just roll with it, grabbing the carton once again and flicking it open.

Only two cigarettes were missing. One of them was the last one that his dad had ever smoked.

What a morbid thought.

He sighed, closing the carton again and sticking it into his pocket, starting to put everything back in his trunk and bag. They were due to leave for King’s Cross Station any minute now, meeting up with the rest of their friends on the train so they could go back to Hogwarts for another year of, what is likely to be, complete and utter hell.

Especially since, the night before, when he’d snuck down to get himself a cup of tea to try and knock himself out, he’d frozen up on the stairs, listening to Lord Malfoy and Narcissa’s conversation, and it had been swirling around in his head ever since.

-

“Cissa, I know you don’t want to hear it, and Fudge didn’t want it in the papers, but…” Lord Malfoy sighed softly, the soft, squeaking sound of one of the many chairs in the sitting room filling the air as he sat down. “He went to Azkaban the night Sirius escaped. The few human guards on staff told him that the man had been muttering like mad about ‘he’s at Hogwarts…’, over and over again.”

“He wouldn’t hurt harry.” Narcissa said firmly. “I know he wouldn’t.”

“The boy you knew has spent twelve years in Azkaban, my love. I know you… You don’t want to think about him in that way, but we truly do not know what’s happened to him all these years. It’s not like we do routine checkups on Azkaban prisoners' mental states.”

“Maybe we should, because I know damn well that Sirius would die before he willingly hurt a child. His own godson no less.”

“And what of Bellatrix?”

Silence. Harry held his breath, afraid that they would hear him up on the stairs if he breathed even slightly too loud.

“...Lucius. You don’t bring her up. Not to me. Not after what she tried to do.” Narcissa hissed quietly, her voice colder than ice. “She stopped being my sister years ago.”

“I’m simply saying… Bellatrix was capable of harming a child. Her own nephew. Her blood. I can imagine Sirius doing the same.” Lord Malfoy said softly. “We just need to make sure all of the boys will be alright. Especially since they’re having the Azkaban guards stationed around Hogwarts to keep an eye out for him.”

Narcissa let out a horrified gasp, her voice trembling as she spoke.

“Them? They’re having the damned Dementors at the school? Around our children-”

And Harry couldn’t listen to much more than that, knowing he would be caught eavesdropping if he stayed much longer, so he carefully twisted around on the stairs and headed back up towards his bedroom on all fours.

-

He hadn’t been disturbed by the idea of Sirius hurting him. No, that thought never crossed his mind. The man physically couldn’t, not without being smited by Magic itself, but just…

The fact that Lord Malfoy seemed genuinely concerned did make him nervous.

Not for himself, but for the people around him.

He remembered the Dementors from the trial earlier that year. The soul sucking, vile creatures that had executed Andersen and Collins for killing his family.

But why were they the ones being sent

And what the hell caused her to hate her sister so much?

He shook his head. These were questions he could ask later, when they weren’t getting ready to go back to school.

Harry rubbed his face a bit, groaning as he tried to rub the sleep away before he locked his trunk once again and shrank it down with a tap of his fingers, picking it up and tucking it into his bag as he slipped out of the room, looking back at the place he’d called home for a majority of the summer.

He was going to miss the safety of it when he was at school.

Slowly, he made his way down the stairs into the sitting room, plopping down next to Narcissa, who was nursing a cup of tea, her face drawn.

“...Good morning, Harry.” She said quietly, looking over at him with a small smile. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. Are you okay?” He asked, raising a brow as he studied her.

“Just a bit tired, dear. I’ll be alright. Lucius will be taking you to King’s Cross today.”

“Okay.”

They sat in silence again for a moment, before she sighed, setting her tea down and pulling Harry into a tight hug, resting her head on his.

“...Promise me you’ll be careful, Harry.” Narcissa murmured. “You have nothing to fear from Sirius, I know that, but with the rest of what’s going on at Hogwarts… I just, would love if you could promise me that you’ll try to stay out of trouble.”

He hugged back, burrowing his face into her shoulder.

“I’ll do my best. I won’t seek it out, at least… I can’t promise that trouble won’t come and find me, though.”

She chuckled a bit. “That’s true…”

They slowly pulled away, standing up when they heard the quick footsteps of Theo and Draco flying down the stairs, with Lord Malfoy right behind them. Narcissa sighed affectionately, shaking her head as she looked at Harry again.

“I’ll make sure I visit Kreacher while you’re at school. Merlin knows he’ll be anxious without you coming to visit him.” She assured him gently. “And I’m sure he’d be delighted to receive a letter from you, if you feel like writing one.”

Harry’s eyes lit up at that. “Thank you, Narcissa. I think he’d really appreciate that. Oh! By the way, if you happen to know how to unstick a permanent unsticking charm, could you force Walburga’s portrait off the wall? I’m really sick of her, and I didn’t have the time to try and find the magic that connected it to the wall to, well… Disconnect it.”

She snorted, but nodded. “Absolutely. I’ll take great pleasure in removing and, possibly destroying that painting. She was a hateful bitch.”

Draco, who had been watching the two of them speak, gasped. “Mother!”

“She was. There’s a reason I refused to let her see you.” Narcissa said firmly. “But! Psychotic members of our extended family aside, I need to make sure you are all appropriately smothered by my affections before you leave.”

And, with that, she walked forward and wrapped both Draco and Theo up in her arms, nearly squeezing the life out of them and kissing their cheeks, smiling against their protests as they only half tried to escape.

Harry caught Theo’s eye, a grin spreading across his face as the other boy turned bright red.

Lord Malfoy smiled, shaking his head gently as he walked over, gently prying Narcissa’s hands off of the boys and kissing her forehead.

“I’ll make sure they get on the train safely, Cissa. I’ll see you in a few hours.” He said softly.

“Thank you, Lucius.” She hummed, standing on her toes and pressing a kiss to his lips, turning back towards the boys as Harry was shrinking down their trunks as well. “Be good, I love you all- Oh! I forgot one thing!”

Narcissa grabbed her wand, flicking it up the stairs. “Accio Hogsmeade Permission Forms.”

Before any of them could process what she had said, three envelopes came zipping down the stairs, directly into her hands. She looked at each one carefully for a moment, before handing one to each of the boys.

“All signed and ready to go.” She smiled. “Have fun in Hogsmeade, boys.”

“Thank you, Lady Malfoy.” Theo said softly, his voice quiet as he looked up at her.

“It’s no trouble. Hogsmeade weekends are the best part of Hogwarts. Lucius and I had our first date at Madam Puddifoot’s.”

Lord Malfoy groaned a bit, shaking his head with a smile. “The decor was terrible, but the company was lovely.”

“Gross.” Draco declared, sticking his tongue out a bit. “Father, we need to go. We don’t want to miss the train.”

“Right, yes.” He nodded, kissing his wife’s cheek one more time before directing the kids towards the fireplace. “Go on, now. King’s Cross Station. I’ll be right behind you. Harry, you sent your owls ahead already?”

“Last night. They should be there by the time we are.” Harry nodded.

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

—

Thankfully, as they decided to floo directly onto the platform, they got there with plenty of time to spare, waiting around for just a little bit to see when the rest of their friends were there.

Neville flagged them down first, with Blaise close behind, giving Harry, Draco, and Theo a chance to say goodbye to Lord Malfoy before they rushed over to meet them. The two of them had, over the summer, had the biggest growth spurts of the group, and it was obvious that neither of them quite knew exactly where their limbs were quite yet, considering that Neville smacked the other boy square in the jaw on accident while trying to flag their friends down.

“I’m so bloody sorry- Oh, Merlin- is it bad?” He asked worriedly, trying to look at Blaise’s face while they shuffled through the train, trying to find an empty compartment.

“No, no, I’m completely fine, Neville.” He grinned. “I just didn’t realize you were that strong. What the hell?”

“Are you really shocked, Blaise?” Harry asked with a raised brow. “You, were with us when we watched him haul those bags of dirt in Herbology last year, right? What was it, one on each shoulder?”

“Well, yeah…” Neville said softly. “I couldn’t get my wand to work…”

“Nev, buddy. Those were twenty kilograms each.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Why do you think everyone was staring at you like that?”

He shrugged a bit, looking at his friends with a deer in the headlights expression. Theo sighed softly, reaching over and patting Neville’s shoulder.

“You’re fine, mate. We’re just giving you shit.”

Draco’s eyes lit up. “Hey. This compartment is mostly empty. Think the girls will be able to find us back here?”

Harry paused, looking into the compartment that his friend was pointing at. It was, indeed, mostly empty, except for a man fast asleep next to the window.

Which, was odd, because he couldn’t remember ever seeing an adult who wasn’t the trolley witch on the train.

It was also odd because… Well, he looked incredibly familiar.

The familiar stranger was wearing an extremely shabby set of wizard's robes that had been darned in several places. He looked ill and exhausted. Though quite young, his light brown hair was flecked with gray.

“...Odd. I feel like I’ve seen him before.” He muttered a bit, shuffling into the compartment and sitting across from the man as the rest of his friends filed in, taking their seats as well. “I think Daph and Lue will find us just fine.”

Theo took a seat next to Harry, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and letting him lean against him a bit. He smiled, nestling his head up on his friend’s shoulder with a sigh.

“Who do you think he is?” Neville asked, his voice just barely above a whisper as he leaned closer, obviously not wanting to wake the sleeping man.

“Professor R.J. Lupin.” Draco answered confidently, causing them all to stare at him in shock. “What? It says so on his briefcase.”

He pointed up above him, at the luggage rack over the man's head, where there was a small, battered case held together with a large quantity of neatly knotted string. The name Professor R. J. Lupin was stamped across one corner in peeling letters.

Harry’s eyes widened a bit, and he sucked in a breath.

Lupin.

The man across from him is one of his godfathers. He’d met him in Diagon Alley that day with Hermione.

“Oh, shit…” He muttered, scooting closer to Theo. Blaise looked at him quizzically, and Harry, not trusting his ability to keep his volume down to a reasonable level, shook his head.

Their universal signal of ‘not now, later’.

As his friend nodded, the door to the compartment opened again, and two familiar blonde girls, as well as a dark haired one, stood in the entrance.

“Hello, my friends.” Luna smiled a bit, entering the compartment without any further questions and plopping herself down onto the floor at Harry’s feet, resting her head on his knee. “I missed you all.”

“Hey, Lue.” Neville grinned. “Have a good last bit of summer?”

“Oh, yes. The Dirigible Plums are coming in nicely this year.”

“Oh! That’s good.”

Daphne chuckled a bit, gently pushing the younger girl with her into the compartment first. “Hey, guys… This is Astoria, my baby sister.”

“Hi…” She said softly, waving nervously as she looked around at everyone.

“Firstie?” Blaise asked, and the girl nodded. “Well, welcome in. Let’s find a spot to squeeze you into.”

There was a bit of shuffling and squishing, but, eventually, both Greengrass sisters were able to squeeze in as well, mostly because Astoria was slightly perched up on her older sister’s lap.

Once they were settled in again, Neville pushed the door closed, and they all began to quietly chatter amongst themselves, discussing their plans for the year, what classes they were excited for, and, most importantly, their Hogsmeade trips as the sound of rain began to pound against the windows, a rhythmic, steady thumping that quickly became background noise for them all.

“I’m, honestly most excited about Honeydukes.” Daphne chuckled a bit.

“Honeydukes… That’s the sweets shop, right?” Harry asked, looking over at her with a raised brow. “I think I’ve seen it a couple times. Whenever we’d go to the Three Broomsticks last year.”

“Yeah! They've got everything! Pepper Imps- which make you smoke at the mouth- Oooh, and great Chocoballs full of strawberry mousse and clotted cream! Oh, and you can’t forget the sugar quills, which you can suck in class and just look like you're thinking what to write next-"

“...I had no idea you have such a sweet tooth.” He grinned a bit. “We’ll have to go first thing on our first weekend.”

“I want to visit the Shrieking Shack.” Blaise said thoughtfully. “It’s supposed to be the most haunted building in Britain.”

“I call bull on that.” Theo shook his head. “Hogwarts is. How many bloody ghosts do we have wandering the halls again?”

“Twenty seven, and that’s when the Headless Hunt isn’t there.” Draco added, standing up a bit when he spotted the trolley lady. “Hey, sweets are coming.”

“Oh, you guys want anything? My treat.” Harry asked them, looking around. He turned to Astoria, smiling softly. “You want anything, Tori?”

Astoria’s eyes widened a little bit, and a slight blush formed on her cheeks. “Uhm… A Pumpkin Pasty? Please and thank you?”

“Pumpkin Pasty? You got it.” He nodded. “Theo?”

“Just a bit of chocolate, please.”

“Got it.”

Harry nodded, pulling the door open after double checking that he wasn’t going to crush Neville’s fingers when he did so and smiling at the old woman pushing the trolley as he grabbed his coin purse.

“Hello, Miss Margery.” He said softly. “Could I get a couple of Pumpkin Pasties, two chocolate bars, and some jelly slugs?”

“Oh, of course, Mr. Hartford.” She smiled, quickly grabbing up the sweets and handing them to him, trading them off for the handful of sickles he pulled from his purse. “Have a good journey, darlings. And send Professor Lupin up to me if he wakes up hungry, would you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The two shared another smile as Harry slipped back into the compartment, giving Astoria and Daphne their Pumpkin Pasties, Theo his chocolate bar, and Luna the packet of jelly slugs, which she took with a smile as she read her upside-down copy of The Quibbler.

Then, he dug around in his bag and pulled out a piece of parchment and a pen, scribbling down a quick note that he wrapped around the second bar of chocolate and slowly, ever so carefully, slipped it into the still sleeping Professor Lupin’s pocket.

“...Harry, did you just… Did you just put-pocket the professor?” Neville asked quietly, stifling his giggles.

“I totally just put-pocketed the professor.” He replied with a smug grin, sitting back down and immediately nestling back up against Theo’s side. The other boy hummed a bit, pulling him close and bumping his nose against the side of his head.

“What did you write on the note..?” He asked softly.

“I’ll explain later.”

“Mkay.”

The rain got heavier and heavier as the train sped yet farther north. The windows were now a solid, shimmering gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks.

The train rattled, the rain hammered, and the wind roared over the sound of the gaggle of students in the compartment with him chattering away, but still, Professor Lupin slept.

They continued to talk about nothing and everything all at the same time, mostly getting to know Astoria, who Daphne continued to coo and preen about the entire time.

She was two years younger than them, obviously, and she was already an excellent potioneer. Her favorite animals were hippogriffs, her favorite color was sky blue, and she was really nervous about starting school and being Sorted, because she didn’t know what the Sorting Ceremony entailed.

“You never told her?” Neville asked incredulously.

“It’s tradition.” Daphne shrugged. “I wasn’t supposed to.”

“That’s dumb.” Harry chuckled, looking at Astoria with a gentle smile. “It’s just a hat that goes on your head. It’s really smart, and it’ll put you where you’ll be happiest and safest. Probably Slytherin, even if it’s Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, you already have friends there in Lue and Nev.”

“Okay…” The girl nodded a bit. “Thank you, Harry.”

“No problem, Tori-”

The train faltered a bit, the lanterns flickering as it began to slow down. A frown formed on his face as he looked around a bit.

“The hell..? We aren’t supposed to be stopping yet.” He said quietly, sitting up.

At his side, he could feel Daphne sitting up as well, her arms wrapping protectively around her little sister.

Neville, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments, which Harry could see through the slightly open door.

The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.

“Shit.” Harry hissed, immediately reaching up and summoning an ice light, illuminating everyone in the compartment with a soft, blue glow.

“What’s going on?” Blaise hissed out, standing up and accidentally stepping on Draco’s foot, considering the sharp yelp of pain the other boy let out. “Sorry-”

“It’s fine- Just- No one move.” He grunted out. “We’re packed tightly in here. If we move too much, we’ll crush each other.”

“Daph… What’s going on..?” Astoria asked shakily, clinging to her sister as her face went stark white. Daphne, to her credit, simply steeled her expression and adjusted herself to keep her sister as far away from the door as she could. Harry nodded a bit, shifting as well so he could put an arm out in front of them, effectively caging the two girls into the corner.

“Lue, you okay?” Theo whispered down to the girl on the floor, earning a slight nod in response as she ripped the head off of a jelly slug with her teeth, her eyes wide and nervous.

“I-i’m okay-” She managed to say.

"Quiet!" A hoarse voice said suddenly.

Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last, as Harry could hear movements in his corner.

None of them spoke, a tense silence spreading out amongst them.

There was a soft, crackling noise, and a second, shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked alert and wary, like a prey animal that had just heard a twig snap.

"Stay where you are. I’m going to go see what’s happened." He said in the same hoarse voice, although this time it was much gentler, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him. But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it.

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin's hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry's eyes darted down towards where the cloak ended, and what he saw made his stomach flip and his heart leap into his throat.

There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water... But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak.

“...Dementor.” He hissed suddenly, his heart hammering in his chest as the realization of what was standing in front of him hit him like a punch to the sternum.

His ball of light fell from his hand, shattering on the ground like ice, which is when every last drop of warmth was ripped away from the room as the Dementor began to make a horrible, guttural noise, like it was trying to suck out the last of a drink through a straw.

And Harry’s blood ran like ice through his veins.

His vision went white, his breath was stuck in his throat, and he could hear the blood rushing through his ears.

Above all of that, however, he could hear the screaming.

So many voices, screaming, begging for help, begging for someone to save them.

Voices he knew, voices he didn’t.

Theo was screaming, Neville was screaming, Luna was sobbing.

He was screaming.

And a woman, a woman he’d never heard before, was screaming too. A horrible, painful wail of despair.

His knees buckled, and he fell to the floor, a sudden rush of agony flooding his body as a freezing cold hand reached down for him, and a body moved protectively over his.

Then, there was nothing. Blissful, beautiful emptiness.

—

Remus felt like he was going to vomit. Every nerve in his body was on fire, and his hand was shaking as he held his wand out at the Dementor, his eyes narrowed and his lips pulled back in a snarl.

“Get out. None of us are hiding Black under our cloaks.” He growled out, the sound barely audible over the children screaming in agony around him, twitching and gasping for air like they were in the middle of a fit. The Dementor seemed to stare at him, and he let out another snarl.

On instinct, his mind drifted to the one memory that never failed to produce his patronus, and a bitter grin spread across his face.

“Expecto Patronum.” He said simply, and the shapeless form of his patronus shot out, causing the Dementor to let out a horrible screech before it fled.

As soon as it did, the screaming died down.

Remus looked around at the children in the compartment with him, all of them looking ill and drawn. Four of them were worse than the others, curled into balls, barely conscious, and with blood trickling from their noses.

He knelt down immediately, picking Harry’s limp body up off of the floor and setting him up where he had once been sitting, before helping the little blonde girl on the floor up as well, sitting her down next to the brown haired boy who Harry had been sitting next to previously.

His hand came up to feel each of their pulses, making sure their hearts were still beating properly before he stood up the rest of the way, reaching into his pocket and grabbing out one of the chocolate bars he’d brought onto the train just in case this happened.

“Here. Break this up and give a few pieces to each of your friends.” Remus said softly, handing it to the boy who looked very, very much like the Italian Contessa. Likely her son, then. “It won’t fix it entirely, but it’ll help.”

“B-but… W-what about..?” Zabini stammered out, looking at his friends as he clutched the chocolate bar like it was a lifeline.

“They’ll be alright.” He reassured him, grabbing the boy’s shoulders and giving them a slight squeeze. “This can happen with people who have experienced a lot of trauma in their lives. I’m going to speak with the conductor. Eat the chocolate, you’ll feel better. Give them some when they wake up fully.”

Remus offered him a gentle smile, pulling away and standing up again, running a hand through his hair as he slipped out of the compartment, pulling the door shut behind him.

He immediately began to walk up to the front of the train, the adrenaline coursing through his veins, and the full moon the night before, giving him a boost in speed.

A slight slapping against his thigh caught his attention, then, distracting him for a moment as he reached into his pocket and grabbed a chocolate bar he didn’t remember putting there in the first place.

Wrapped around it was a sheet of fresh parchment, with a simple note scribbled onto it.

-

Lupin,

I’d like to talk to you when you have a chance. One on one.

I have questions for you.

Your godson,

Harry Hartford

-

Remus took a slow, deep breath.

Harry wanted to meet with him, and talk to him properly.

He could deal with that. He could absolutely deal with that.

But he could deal with that later, after he made sure the rest of the students were alright, and weren’t in similar states to the four students in his compartment.

Because he’d never seen children that young have that severe of a reaction to a Dementor’s presence, and that terrified him to his core, so he needed to haul ass up to the conductor so he could make sure Harry and his friends were alright after nearly being kissed by that monster.

“You selfish bastard, Sirius. Nearly killed him without even being here. If I ever see you again, I’ll kill you myself. He growled out, setting off towards the engine car once again, the visible anger on his face making a few students duck back into their compartments.

Good. They didn’t need to see this.

—

Harry awoke slowly, his mind feeling like a balloon while his body felt like it was made of lead. He felt weak and shivery as well, like he was recovering from a nasty case of the flu, and his body hadn’t yet realized that he was done being sick.

He sat up as carefully as he could, startling when he felt a set of hands brace him, his eyes shooting open and making contact with Daphne, who had a few tears streaming down her cheeks.

“...Hey.” He rasped out, a weak smile on his face.

“...Hi.” She replied, pulling him into a careful hug, her face burrowing into his shoulder as she let out a shaky breath. “Oh I’m so glad you’re okay… You’re safe, you’re in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts.”

“What the hell happened..?”

“A Dementor. On the train.” Daphne shuddered, slowly pulling away and grabbing another pillow to stick behind him, helping him sit up properly before she sat on a chair next to his bed. “You, Nev, Theo, and Lue all started having fits. It… It was horrible. It was like all of the life was being sucked out of you…”

Harry’s eyes widened in horror, and he immediately tried to get up to go and check on his friends, although the way his stomach flipped sent him right back into the bed.

“Is everyone okay..?” He asked shakily.

“Yeah, everyone’s okay. Professor Lupin made the conductor go full speed ahead, and then the Headmaster lifted the apparition border so he and Professor Snape could apparate you guys up to Madam Pomfrey. I have no idea what she did, but, once she did it, you guys all got your color back and stopped looking like corpses.”

“Thank fuck…”

“Language, Mr. Hartford.” Snape chided, although his tone and the expression on his face betrayed the relief he felt at the sight of Harry being awake, and cursing, apparently.

“Sorry, Professor… Nice to see you.”

“It’s a pleasure to see you all as well.” The man nodded, handing Daphne a few potion bottles. “Have him drink these. If he can keep them all down for fifteen minutes, he can go back to the dormitory.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.” She nodded, uncorking each bottle and handing them to Harry, who downed them without second thought.

Once he had the potions in his system, the fog that had settled over his mind started to clear, and he was able to actually think.

“...Jesus… That was terrifying…” He muttered, shaking his head, looking over at Daphne. “And you’re okay, right?”

She nodded again. “We’re okay, Harry. Promise. You were the last one to wake up. Everyone’s just waiting to make sure they don’t get sick.”

Harry sighed in relief, closing his eyes and rubbing his face.

“...I hate this school, Daph. I really, really hate this school.”

“...Trust me, I hate it too.”

“So… Fill me in on everything that happened..?”

“I’ll tell you as much as I know, okay?”

“That works for me.”

Chapter Text

After fifteen minutes, and another check over by Madam Pomfrey- who looked ready to kill- they were released from the Hospital Wing. Snape followed close behind them as they made their way down to the dungeons, likely just to make sure no one fainted or got sick on the way.

Theo still looked pale, Luna hadn’t stopped trembling, and Neville was just… Completely silent, his mind obviously a million miles away as he tried to come to terms with what happened.

Harry felt like shit as well, but he didn’t care much about himself at that moment, his hands reaching out to grab hold of his friends. He had Theo’s hand in his right, Luna’s in his left, and he relaxed when he felt Nev grab hold of the back of his shirt, their strange little quartet making their way down the stairs and into the Slytherin common room.

Snape stood in the doorway, holding it open as they all filled in, not saying a word about the two non-Slytherins as they went in as well.

When Harry looked up again, it was to a sea of worried faces. His friends all stayed close by, acting almost as a protective shield for the ill members of the party, but the way most of the older students immediately rushed over, helping to escort them over to the sofas so they could sit down.

“Thanks, Castor…” He said softly to the prefect who was helping to lower him down.

“You alright, Hartford?” Castor asked gently.

“I will be.”

“Nasty business, Dementors…”

He chuckled a bit. That was the understatement of the century.

Once everyone was situated again, and Theo had shuffled over to Harry’s side to sit next to him, Snape cleared his throat, pulling everyone’s attention over to him.

“Now that all of us have been safely returned to the common room after the… Disastrous train ride you were all just subjected to, allow me to apologize for that fact beforehand.” He sighed. “The Dementors were not supposed to enter the train. They were only supposed to canvas the outside and make sure that Sirius Black was not attempting to sneak onto the train.”

“Unfortunately, they went against orders, and many of you paid the price because of it. And for that, I deeply apologize. Your safety was compromised.”

“It’s not your fault, Professor.” Gemma said softly from the other side of the room. “You couldn’t have known.”

“Still. As your Head of House, I feel the need to alter my speech for the year to provide you all with the necessary information. I want you all to ask questions. I want you to know exactly what this year will entail, and I want you all to be prepared. Am I understood?”

There was a soft chorus of agreement, and Harry leaned against Theo even harder, seeking the vague comfort of his magic and warmth as they listened to Professor Snape’s speech.

“I am Professor Snape. Head of House Slytherin and Potions Master here at Hogwarts. I have a few rules that I am required to enforce, but, due to the unusual circumstances here at Hogwarts, I will be adding addendums and changes to said rules.” He began.

“Be back in the common room by ten o’ clock at the latest. If you need to be out later, for whatever reason, I will need you to get a permission slip from myself or our newly elected Head Girl, Miss Fawley.”

Harry grinned a bit, looking over at Gemma and giving her a thumbs up. She nodded, smiling at him as she turned back towards Snape.

“Another thing you all must take into account is that we must present as a united front when outside of these walls. Duels are postponed for the year, due to the stress that they can cause, and Merlin knows that we need no more of that. Never go anywhere alone, always have backup, and keep yourselves safe.”

“And, finally.” The professor nodded a bit, pointing over to the side hall that led to his office, where a massive cabinet was now on the left side. “That cabinet, right there, is always kept full of Pepper-Up, Calming Draught, and Seizure Recovery Potions. The password to get inside is Foxglove, and if you need them, please, take them. The other professors, and myself, will also be keeping stores of said potions with us at all times, as well as our prefects.”

Blaise raised his hand, a frown on his face. Snape immediately nodded at him.

“Mr. Zabini?”

“What if we aren’t nearby you, the common room, or a prefect and we need one of those potions?” He asked, his voice trembling a bit.

“Then, I’m perfectly fine with you all keeping a few of these potions on you. Mr. Hartford has a bag with an Undetectable Extension Charm, correct?”

“Yes, sir.” Harry nodded. “I have some side pockets inside that can fit plenty of potions.”

“Then I would recommend that those of you who have a similar anxiety to Mr. Zabini to purchase one as well.” Snape nodded. “It’s a valuable purchase in the long run, as, I’m fairly certain Mr. Hartford here is also hiding about seventeen different objects that are obviously against school rules within that bag as well.”

“Eighteen, sir, if you count my walkman.”

“My point stands.”

Harry snickered a bit, hiding his face in Theo’s shoulder as he saw the edges of the professor’s mouth twitch, just a bit.

“Now… Are there any questions?”

There was a silence amongst the students, who all shook their heads after a moment.

“Very well. Speaking of Mr. Hartford, will you come and speak with me in my office?” He asked, looking over at Harry, who nodded.

“Yes, sir. One second, please.”

“Take your time. I’ll meet you there.”

As a majority of the house dispersed, Snape disappeared down the corridor to his office, immediately causing Neville to whip his head towards Harry with wide eyes.

“Did you do something already?” He whispered.

“Not this time, no. He probably just wants to go over my class schedule.” Harry shrugged, causing Draco to hum.

“That’s right… You’re taking, like, every class, right?”

“Yep.” He grinned, standing up carefully and stumbling as he tried to regain his balance, Theo’s hands immediately shooting up and grabbing his waist to steady him. He offered the other boy a soft smile, before righting himself properly and heading to the corridor. “I’ll meet you guys up in the dorm when I’m done, okay?”

“Alright, Harry. Good luck.” Draco chuckled, causing him to shake his head and flick his fingers at his friend, sending a quick stinging jinx into his hand.

The sudden yelp he let out made him grin as he disappeared into the dark hall, following the familiar path towards Snape’s office, slipping into the darkened room and letting out a soft sigh.

“Hi, Professor.” He said softly, sliding into the chair across from the man.

“Hello, Mr. Hartford. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, sir. Sorry for all the trouble. I had… No idea I would react so badly to the Dementors. They didn’t affect me like that at the trial.”

“The trial was a completely different situation, Mr. Hartford. They were far away, and Auror Tonks had cast her Patronus to protect us from their effects.” Snape said gently, looking at Harry with a worried gaze. “You have every right to react to them the way you did. I, myself, don’t react well.”

“Still… I had a bloody fit on the floor.” Harry huffed. “I could have done something… I mean, I fought a bloody basilisk last year…”

“Mr. Hartford. You don’t need to worry about that. With any luck, that situation will not happen again, and you and your friends will be perfectly fine, and have a perfectly boring year here at Hogwarts.”

As he said that, though, Harry could see the professor’s grimace, like he knew that was about as probable as a resurrection.

“However, your year will, of course, be different when compared to the rest of your classmates, as… I’ve gone ahead and pulled some strings with the Ministry to allow you to take all of your requested classes.” Snape’s grimace turned into a slightly smug grin as he reached into his desk, grabbing out a bulging envelope that bore the official Ministry seal, handing it to him.

Harry took it carefully, his brow raised as he popped it open, his eyes widening a bit when he saw a golden hourglass necklace inside, along with a letter.

“Is this… A time turner..?” He asked quietly, looking up at Snape in shock. “I get to use a Time Turner?”

“I’m not surprised you know what such a device is. But yes, you get to use a Time Turner. The Minister signed off on it himself, and has written out instructions for you and Miss Granger, as the two of you have both proved yourselves worthy of carrying the devices.”

His eyes lit up. “So, ‘mionie and I are gonna be time traveling together?”

“In a sense.” Snape nodded. “Why did he choose to give you two separate Time Turners, instead of just the one? I have no idea. However, you need to be very careful. Time travel is not something to be messed around with, and-”

“I’m not going to mess around, Professor. Either way, I can’t imagine that much bad can actually come out of it unless I really cock it up…” Harry murmured, taking the Time Turner out of the envelope and studying it. “The uh… Ah, bloody hell, what was it again? …Novikov’s Self Consistency Principle, that’s right…”

He looked up for a moment, seeing his professor’s confused expression, and he explained further.

“It’s a theory from a Russian physicist that said if someone were to go back in time and change an event that would alter history, therefore changing the present to where they never would have gone back to change it…” He trailed off, realizing that his Professor had, absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

Right. Wizards don’t really keep up with muggle science.

“...The Grandfather Paradox.”

“Oh.” Snape nodded. “Alright… I wasn’t aware you enjoyed physics.”

“Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies.” Harry shrugged. “I used to talk to Mum and Dad about the logistics of actual time travel.”

“It seems like you had very interesting conversations with your parents.”

“Always. They were interesting people.”

The professor chuckled a bit, shaking his head. “That they were… Alright. Make sure you read the rules carefully, Mr. Hartford. I don’t want you to put yourself, or anyone else at risk.”

“Yes, sir. And… Uhm. Thank you for doing this, Professor. You really didn’t need to do this for me.” Harry said softly, looking up at him. Snape shook his head gently.

“I am not going to be the person who attempts to stall your education, Mr. Hartford. And, well, if you’re busy with the schoolwork you’re undoubtedly going to have because of this, you won’t be able to get yourself into any trouble.”

“God, I hope so.” He sighed, standing up with a smile and tucking his time turner into his pocket. “See you in the morning, Professor.”

“You as well, Mr. Hartford.”

Harry hummed as he slipped out of the office, starting to head back to the common room. As he walked, he took the letter out of the envelope as well, unfolding the parchment and starting to read the rules.

The smile on his face slowly spread into a massive grin.

It was simple, easy to follow, and he couldn’t wait to try it out.

Bloody hell, he was going to be able to time travel.

What a fucking delight.

-

Dear Mr. Hartford,

As you are reading this letter, I can only assume that Professor Snape has provided you with both your Time Turner, and the instructions on how to use said Time Turner!

There are a few rules to them, but I have no doubts about the fact that you’ll be able to follow them to a Tee, considering your track record these past two years.

-The maximum time a Time Turner can be turned back to is five hours, while the minimum is five minutes. Any attempts to go beyond the allotted five hours will not work by design.

-To operate the Time Turner, simply twist the knob for the amount of time you need to go back. One full twist is one hour, half a twist is half, and so on and so forth.

-In addition, it would do you good to make sure that you do your time traveling in a private place, where others will not see you. It can be a bit mind scrambling to see a person disappear right before your eyes, especially without apparition.

-Your professors are all aware of you and Miss Granger using these devices, but the rest of the student body is not, and it is imperative that you do not let them know.

As you are an intelligent young man, I don’t feel the need to remind you of the dangers that can arise from attempting to change events during time travel, but I hope you take these warnings to heart.

If you suddenly decide that using the Time Turner is too much for whatever reason, that is perfectly fine, and I will be happy to come and collect it from you and return it to the DOM.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to write.

Minister for Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Order of Merlin, First Class

—

“Harry. Mate. Wake up.” Blaise grunted from the left side of Harry’s bed, shoving him gently as he continued to try and wake his friend up. “We need to get our schedules. Get up.”

Harry groaned softly, pulling the blankets up over his head even further to block out what little light was filtering into their dorm room.

He did not want to wake up, not at all. He’d been up for half the night trying out his Time Turner, which, really meant that he’d been up the entire night, and had only just fallen asleep what felt like an hour ago.

So, no, Blaise. He was not going to get up.

A gentle weight settled in next to him on his bed, and he let out another groan, relaxing a bit when he felt Theo’s familiar fingers slide under the covers and run them through his hair.

“C’mon, Harry… You gotta get up.” He murmured. “We have class in an hour, and we need breakfast.”

He sighed a bit, slowly wiggling out of his blankets and looking up at Theo, a tired smile on his face.

“...Yeah, okay.” Harry nodded. “I’ll get up.”

“You’re insufferable.” Blaise said, but there was no venom in his voice as he shook his head, walking back over to his bed so he could button up his vest.

Theo chuckled a bit, gently nudging Harry out of bed, and smiling when he watched the other boy roll out and onto his feet, summoning his clothes and jewelry with a flick of his wrist before he headed into the bathroom, thankful that it was actually free.

He did his business, getting himself dressed, brushed, and put together decently enough that he didn’t look like he’d just gotten out of bed, and began to adjust his necklaces- the Time Turner, and the one carrying his parent’s rings with Theo’s pendant. He smiled a bit, his hand brushing against the black stone before he gently tucked it into his shirt to keep it safe.

Then, there were his Heir rings.

Harry stared at them for a moment, frowning a bit. He’d left them off on the train ride to Hogwarts, mostly because he didn’t want anyone to stare, but… He didn’t know if he should wear them while he was actually at Hogwarts.

He poked his head out of the bathroom, still frowning.

“Hey. What should I do about my rings?” He asked out into the room. Draco looked over, a brow raised for a moment before it suddenly dawned on him what his friend was asking.

“Oh! Just, use a Disillusionment Charm on them.” He shrugged. “No one will be looking too hard at them anyways.”

“Good idea.”

Harry carefully put each of the rings on before he focused on each one, his magic reaching up, wrapping around it, and making it disappear. The feeling of the cold metal never left his fingers, however, so he knew they were still safely attached.

He slipped back out of the bathroom, sending his pajamas into the nearby hamper with a flick of his wand, before he grabbed his bag and pulled it over his shoulder.

“Okay, let’s go!” He called, already heading for the door.

“Dammit, Harry! Stop getting ready so fast!” Blaise called after him. “Also, where’s your blazer? Or your robes?”

“I’m sick of wearing them!”

“You look entirely unprofessional!”

“That’s the point!!” Harry called over his shoulder with a grin, trotting down the stairs and chuckling a bit when he heard Theo’s footsteps right behind his.own.

Neville, Luna, and Daphne were already awake and sitting in the common room, most of the awake first years staring at the two non-Slytherins with expressions of confusion and concern.

Neither of them seemed concerned, though, as Luna was twirling her wand between her fingers while blue sparks flickered out of the tip, while Neville was fully engrossed in the copy of Baneful Belladonna; A History of Poisons and pointedly not making eye contact with anyone else.

After a few more minutes, Blaise and Draco followed them down, both properly dressed and very well put together.

Once their entire group made it down, the three on the sofa rose to their feet, filing out of the common room like it was a routine occurrence. As they walked, Theo slipped his hand into Harry’s, giving it a slight squeeze, which was immediately returned.

After their near kiss at the Festival of Lights, neither one of them had made such a bold move, mostly out of fear of being interrupted once again.

But, they had gotten a lot more touchy with one another, very rarely not being attached at the hip.

Thankfully, no one had made any comments, but Harry had a distinct feeling that Luna knew exactly what was going on.

Then again, Luna always knew what was going on.

That was just a fact about being friends with Luna. She knew your secrets, even secrets you didn’t know you had.

The walk to the Great Hall was complete muscle memory at that point, none of them breaking stride as they entered the room and walked right over to the Slytherin table, despite two members of their group belonging at other tables. Once they sat down, sheets of parchment fluttered over to them, settling down in front of them.

“Lovegood, Longbottom, I have no idea why you two are over here again, but I got your schedules from your heads.” Gemma said, flicking sheets of parchment around the table with her wand as she watched the rest of the students file in. “At this point I feel like we need to just be dressing you both in Slytherin robes.”

“That works.” Neville nodded, still with his head in his book. He looked up after a moment, his eyes wide as he grabbed his schedule. “Did you guys know that Elephant Ear can cause swelling of the tongue and throat, in turn, suffocating a person to death?”

“I didn’t know that. Disturbing, and brilliant!” Harry hummed thoughtfully, grabbing his own and studying it for a moment, a bright smile on his face. “Perfect.”

Daphne leaned over curiously, munching on a grape she had just popped into her mouth.

“They’ve messed up your timetable, Harry.” She said softly, a frown on her face as she pointed at the written out schedule. “Look, they’ve got you down for about ten subjects a day!”

“No, this was the plan, actually.” He replied. “I have it all put together with Professor Snape. Don’t worry.”

“Okay…” Daphne nodded a bit, though she still looked concerned when she looked around the table. “What classes does everyone have?”

“Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Care for Magical Creatures.” Theo said between bites of toast at Harry’s side.

“Care and Divination.” Neville murmured.

“Draco and I have the same as Theo.” Blaise lifted his head.

“And I have Care, Divination, and Muggle Studies.” She smiled. “Cool. So we all have electives with Harry.”

“I don’t, but that’s okay.” Luna hummed softly, starting to put together a sausage sandwich and wrapping it in a napkin. “Harry was going to let me read through his textbooks anyways.”

Harry chuckled, nodding along as he studied his time table.

He had Divination and Arithmancy at the same time, which would need his Time Turner. Then, he had Transfiguration, Lunch, and Care of Magical Creatures, which was then followed by a Potions class.

It was going to be busy, and he was going to need to dead sprint across the castle to get from Divination to Arithmancy quick enough, but he supposed he could just… Give himself a couple extra minutes.

Or maybe ask the castle for a shortcut. Hogwarts was lovely like that.

“Speaking of Divination…” He mumbled, looking up at one of the large grandfather clocks in the Great Hall. “It’s in the North Tower. We should start heading there so we aren’t late.”

As he stood up, Luna pressed the sausage sandwich into his hands, and he smiled gratefully at her. Daphne and Neville rose as well, and in that brief moment, Harry leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to Theo’s cheek.

“See you in Arithmancy.” He said softly, before he took off running, taking a bite out of his sandwich as two of his friends tore off behind him. He missed Theo’s shocked spluttering, but what he didn’t miss was Draco’s confused call.

“Arithmancy and Divination are at the same time, Harry! What are you talking about?!”

And Harry couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across his face.

He would tell them, Minister of Magic be damned.

He just wanted to fuck with his friends a bit first.

Chapter Text

“There has- got to be- a shortcut-” Daphne panted softly as they went up what felt like the eighth flight of stairs in five minutes.

Harry frowned, looking around a bit as he and Neville fought to catch their breaths as well. As much as he wanted to try and just, find the Divination classroom on his own the first time, he was starting to think that he really was going to need to ask Hogwarts for help.

“I think it’s this way…” Neville said after a moment, pointing down the empty passage to the right.

“That’s south, Nev. Look, you can see a bit of the lake out of the window …” Daphne shook her head, gesturing towards the window next to a large painting.

One that Harry’s attention had been pulled towards as he pressed his hand against the wall, reaching out with his magic so he could, hopefully, ask for some help.

A fat, dappled grey pony had just ambled onto the grass and was grazing nonchalantly. He was somewhat used to the subjects of Hogwarts paintings moving around and leaving their frames to visit each other, but he always enjoyed watching them.

A moment later, a short, squat knight in a suit of armor had clanked into the picture after his pony. By the look of the grass stains on his metal knees, he had just fallen off.

Probably for the fourth or fifth time, considering just how messy they were.

“Aha!” He yelled, seeing Harry, Neville, and Daphne. “What villains are these that trespass upon my private lands! Come to scorn at my fall, perchance? Draw, you knaves, you dogs!”

They watched in astonishment as the little knight tugged his sword out of its scabbard and began brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in rage. But the sword was too long for him; a particularly wild swing made him overbalance, and he landed facedown in the grass.

"Are you all right?" Neville asked softly, moving closer to the picture.

"Get back, you scurvy braggart! Back, you rogue!" The knight seized his sword again and used it to push himself back up, but the blade sank deeply into the grass and, though he pulled with all his might, he couldn't get it out again. Finally, he had to flop back down onto the grass and push up his visor to mop his sweating face.

Harry winced a bit, and decided that, maybe, Hogwarts had sent him to them so he could help.

“Uhm… Sir Knight? We're looking for the North Tower. You don't know the way, do you?" He asked hopefully.

"A quest!" The knight's rage seemed to vanish instantly. He clanked to his feet and shouted at the top of his lungs. "Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!"

He gave the sword another fruitless tug, tried and failed to mount the fat pony, gave up, and cried. "On foot then, good sirs and gentle lady! On! On!"

And he ran, clanking loudly, into the left side of the frame and out of sight.

“Oh, fuck me.” Neville groaned out, pulling a startled laugh from Daphne and Harry as they took off after the painted knight.

They hurried after him along the corridor, following the sound of his clanging armor. Every now and then they spotted him running through a picture ahead, disrupting the other portraits and making them curse at him as he led them into a thin, spiraling staircase that went up far beyond where they could see.

They climbed the tightly spiraling steps, getting dizzier and dizzier, until at last they heard the murmur of voices above them and knew they had reached the classroom.

"Farewell!" The knight cried, popping his head into a painting of some sinister-looking monks that sneered at him. "Farewell, my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have a need for a noble heart and steely sinew, call upon Sir Cadogan!"

“Thank you, good Sir Cadogan!” Daphne said with a breathless laugh, smiling at the painting as he disappeared from view.

Harry laughed as well, shaking his head. “Jesus… That was a lot…”

They climbed the last few steps and emerged onto a tiny landing, where most of the class was already assembled. Harry noted, with a hint of disgust, that Weasley and Finnegan were there, but There were no doors off this landing, but Neville nudged Harry and pointed at the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it.

"'Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher."' Harry read. "How're we supposed to get up there?"

As though in answer to his question, the trapdoor suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended right at Harry's feet.

“Oh. That’s how.”

Daphne groaned softly, looking down at her skirt. “Oh this is absolutely going to suck…”

“Daph. You’re wearing tights. You’re fine.” Nev sighed good naturedly, and the girl paused.

“Oh, you’re right.” She nodded, immediately heading up the ladder without a second thought. Harry bit back a laugh, following her up once he was sure she was safely within the classroom.

He emerged into the strangest-looking classroom he had ever seen.

In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop.

At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves.

It was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle.

The shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.

It was, in the kindest way Harry could think of it, migraine inducing.

And that was probably because he was starting to get a migraine.

"Where is she?" Neville said.

A voice came suddenly out of the shadows, a soft, misty sort of voice that vaguely reminded Harry of Luna.

If, Luna’s voice had a slight slur to it that made her sound like she was a bit drunk.

"Welcome. How nice to see you in the physical world at last." The voice said.

Harry's immediate impression was of a large, glittering insect when Professor Trelawney moved into the firelight, and they saw that she was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl.

Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings that reminded Harry of the group of funny old women who used to come into The Crow’s Nest and croon about

"Sit, my children, sit!" She said, and they all climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poufs.

Harry, Daphne, and Neville sat around the same round table, giving each other funny looks.

"Welcome to Divination." Professor Trelawney, who had seated herself in a winged armchair in front of the fire, said with a smile. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

He bit back a small smile at the woman’s words. It sounded a bit ridiculous, but… It was going to be interesting.

A few tables away, he heard a familiar scoff, and he leaned forward to look at Hermione, who was staring incredulously at their professor.

Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued. "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you.. Books can take you only so far in this field...."

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future…" Professor Trelawney went on, her enormous, gleaming eyes moving from face to nervous face. "It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy.” She said suddenly to Neville, who almost toppled off his pouf.

"Is your grandmother well?"

“Uhm… I think so?” He answered in a slightly trembling voice. Harry frowned a bit, feeling his hackles raise at the visible discomfort on Neville’s face.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear." Professor Trelawney said grimly, the firelight glinting on her long emerald earrings.

Neville gulped, his face turning three different shades of grey. Daphne reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently as a scowl formed on her face.

And Harry just barely resisted the urge to bean the professor in the head with the pouf he was sitting on.

Professor Trelawney continued placidly, like she hadn’t just caused one of his best friends to descend into a near panic. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry-”

By the way, my dear." She shot suddenly at the Gryffindor Patil. "Beware a red-haired man."

Gryffindor Patil eyed Weasley, who was sitting at the table with Hermione and Finnegan, and scooted further away from him. Weasley made an incredulous face, shaking his head and turning back to the front.

"In the second term…" Professor Trelawney went on. "We shall progress to the crystal ball- if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our numbers will leave us forever."

A very tense silence followed this pronouncement, but Professor Trelawney seemed unaware of it.

She didn’t seem to be aware of much outside of her own head, if Harry was being entirely honest.

"I wonder, dear…" She said to one of the Gryffindor girls nearest to her. "If you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"

The girl, looking relieved, stood up, took an enormous teapot from the shelf, and put it down on the table in front of Professor Trelawney.

"Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading- it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October."

The girl’s eyes went wide, and she shuddered.

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer.” Trelawney explained. “Wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear-"

She caught Neville by the arm as he moved to stand up, startling him further. "After you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."

He nodded a bit, and then looked at the shelf with a nervous glance.

Harry gently gestured for him to sit back down, rising instead and making his way over to the shelf, grabbing tea cups for the three of them. When he sat back down, he saw Hermione making her way over to them, a nervous smile on her face.

“Uhm… Greengrass? Could I partner with you?” She asked softly. Daphne looked up, seeming surprised for a moment, before she smiled.

“Sure, Granger. I was gonna leave Harry and Nev to partner up anyways.”

He sighed in relief, watching the two girls settle down next to each other and start to talk. He really was relieved that the two of them could have a civil conversation with one another.

Neville carefully took his cup, quickly setting it back on the table like it was burning hot, obviously afraid to touch it. Considering how happy and content he had been not even an hour earlier, his sudden anxiety and shakiness infuriated Harry.

He wasn’t angry at Nev, no. Of course not.

He was furious for him.

When Trelawney poured the boiling water into their cups, they let it steep for a few minutes, before Harry downed his so quickly that he almost dumped half of it on himself.

Daphne winced a bit. “Oh, Harry…”

“Sorry. I’m just… Frustrated.” He muttered, wiping his mouth and swirling his cup a few times before he slid it over to Neville, who did the same. Once they had switched their cups, he grabbed his copy of Unfogging the Future from his bag and flipped to pages five and six.

“I know. Just… Maybe not go for the teacher who isn’t in a cursed job position?” She murmured, causing a small smile to pull at his lips. Hermione looked between them in confusion for a moment before, she too drained her tea.

"What can you see in mine?" Neville asked, picking up the tea cup in front of him and studying the tea leaves within.

"A load of soggy brown tea gunk. Ugh, I never liked loose leaf tea. It tastes too much like just, hot leaf water." Harry nodded firmly, blinking a few times as he tried to make out any sort of prediction. The perfumed smoke in the room really was giving him a migraine. Damn.

“Tea is just hot leaf water.” Hermione said thoughtfully, making the four of them let out a soft chuckle.

"Right, uh… You've got a crooked sort of cross... " He consulted Unfogging the Future again, frowning a bit. "That means you're going to have 'trials and suffering'- sorry about that… But there's a thing that could be the sun... Hang on... That means 'great happiness'... So you're going to suffer but be very happy...."

Neville paused, before a giggle escaped him. “I think I could have told you that. I think that’s been the definition of the last two years.”

Harry snorted as well, shaking his head. “If that isn’t the truth… Okay, what does mine say?”

"There's a blob a bit like a bowler hat.” He said as he turned the cup this way and that.. "Maybe you're going to work for the Ministry?”

He made a face, causing Neville to grin.

“No, then? Well… Maybe it’s an acorn, like, if I flip it this way?” Neville flipped the tea cup over. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s an acorn. Hey! Unexpected gold, that’d be great…”

“Ooh, I like that one.”

“And there’s a funny looking animal in here too. I can’t tell if it’s a hippo or a sheep.”

Professor Trelawney whirled around as Harry let out a snort of laughter, because of course he has something stupid like a hippo in his tea leaves.

"Let me see that, my dear.” She said as sternly as she could to Neville, sweeping over and snatching Harry's cup from him.

Everyone went quiet to watch, a tense silence filling the air.

Professor Trelawney was staring into the teacup, rotating it counterclockwise. "The falcon... my dear, you have a deadly enemy."

"But everyone knows that!” Hermione said in a loud whisper. Professor Trelawney stared at her, her wide eyes even wider behind her massive glasses.

"Well, they do." Hermione continued, jutting her chin out in a manner that honestly reminded Harry of Draco when he started getting an attitude with someone. "Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."

Professor Trelawney chose not to reply. She lowered her huge eyes to Harry's cup again and continued to turn it.

"The club... an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup…”

“Oh, I thought that was a bowler hat…” Neville smiled sheepishly.

"The skull... danger in your path, my dear...." Everyone was staring, transfixed, at Professor Trelawney, who gave the cup a final turn, gasped, and then screamed.

The sudden scream caused Harry to launch himself backwards with a panicked noise, grabbing onto Daphne protectively and trying to push her behind him as their professor shoved the teacup back onto the table, knocking Neville’s cup off of the table in the process.

Professor Trelawney sank into a vacant armchair, her glittering hand at her heart and her eyes closed.

"My dear boy... My poor, dear boy no it is kinder not to say.. . No... don't ask me...."

"What is it, Professor?" Finnegan asked suddenly. Everyone had gotten to their feet, and slowly they crowded around Harry and Neville's table, pressing close to Professor Trelawney's chair to get a good look at Harry's cup.

"My dear…" Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically."You have the Grim."

"The what?” Harry asked in utter confusion, looking around at his friends. Neville seemed to have gone pale again, while Hermione and Daphne both had expressions of indignant fury, but nearly everybody else clapped their hands to their mouths in horror.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" Professor Trelawney cried, looking shocked that Harry hadn't understood. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen- the worst omen- of death!"

“...So I have a death omen in my tea?”

“Yes, I’m… I’m so sorry, my boy. I’m so sorry…”

Harry paused for a moment, before he shrugged, grabbing his cup again and looking at it.

“It looks like that sweet dog we saw in Diagon Alley, Hermione. I really doubt Snuffles is going to be what kills me this year.”

The sudden comment made Hermione laugh, slapping a hand over her mouth as she leaned in to look at the cup.

“Snuffles? Really? Couldn’t come up with a better name than Snuffles?”

“I think it fits him very well, thank you.”

She shook her head, rolling her eyes a bit. “I don’t think it looks like a dog at all… Much less a Grim.”

Professor Trelawney surveyed Hermione with mounting dislike.

"You'll forgive me for saying so, my dear, but I perceive very little aura around you. Very little receptivity to the resonances of the future."

Hermione gave the woman another indignant glare.

Their professor sighed, a shaky, weak sound as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“I believe we should leave this lesson here for today…” She said softly. “Yes, please pack away your things…”

Silently, the class took their teacups back to Professor Trelawney, packed away their books, and closed their bags. Harry didn’t say anything, and blatantly ignored the pitying looks everyone was giving him.

So what if he had an omen of death? He’d nearly died the last two years, and already had a near death experience.

What was another one at this point?

"Until we meet again…" Professor Trelawney crooned faintly. "Fair fortune be yours. Oh, and dear-” She pointed at Neville, startling him once again. "You'll be late next time, so mind you work extra-hard to catch up."

Harry huffed at her, wrapping his arm around Neville’s shoulders and pulling him and Daphne out of the room, Hermione hot on their heels.

“What a bitch.” Daphne grumbled, looking at their friend with gentle eyes. “Are you okay, Nev?”

“Do you think Gran is alright..?” He asked quietly. “I-I should write to her tonight. Can I borrow Hedwig, Harry?”

“Of course, Nev.”

“Thank you…”

“Hey, you guys go ahead, okay?” Harry said softly. “Hermione and I need to talk for a minute.”

His friends looked at him quizzically, but nodded, Daphne taking his place at Neville’s side and hugging him close as they descended the stairs. He took that moment to grab Hermione’s arm, a grin on his face.

“So… Time to Travel?”

Her eyes lit up in excitement, her voice barely coming out in a whisper.

“So Professor McGonagall wasn’t lying? You have a Time Turner too?”

“I do, yeah.” He nodded, pulling his out of his shirt. She pulled hers out as well, her eyes glistening with utter joy. “Arithmancy next?”

“Yes. Please. I can’t wait to properly meet Professor Vector.”

“An hour should do it, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Harry released her arm, grabbing his necklace and getting ready to twist it, holding up his fingers as he counted down.

Once he reached zero, they both twisted their Time Turners, watching with delight as time seemed to zip backwards around them, before darkness consumed them for a moment and they ended up just outside the Great Hall once again.

A hum escaped him as he felt his friend’s magic throughout the castle, and, oddly enough, his own.

“C’mon. Let’s go find the Arithmancy classroom.” Hermione said softly, grabbing his hand and leading him through the halls.

Thankfully, Arithmancy was on the complete opposite side of the castle from Divination, and in only a few minutes, they entered the slightly darkened classroom.

Like Divination, the room was set up with twenty something circular tables, as well as soft armchairs and poufs to sit in. The walls were covered in charts that depicted the different systems, and the windows were open, allowing the light to filter in through the dark curtains and letting a soft breeze blow through.

Harry sighed in relief. This was so much better than Trelawney.

Professor Vector, a stern looking woman in crimson red robes, looked over at them, and upon realizing who they were, nodded.

“You’re on time, Mr. Hartford, Miss Granger. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you, Professor.” They replied in unison, quickly hustling over to the tables. Harry plopped down between Theo and Blaise, startling them both, although the former immediately got a wide grin on his face.

“You’re here… Why do you smell like incense?” He asked, raising a brow.

“Trelawney tried to smoke us out. I have a wicked headache because of it.” Harry replied softly with a shrug, while Blaise and Draco stared at him in confusion.

“But… How did…” Draco tried to ask, before he shook his head. “You know what? I don’t care right now. I can ask more questions later.”

“That you can.”

He snickered a bit, looking over at Hermione, who had a matching grin on her face. Her tablemates looked just as confused as his friends were, and he could tell that she was delighting in it just as much as he was.

The frustration of their previous class temporarily forgotten, Harry settled down onto his pouf with a smile, ready to listen to Professor Vector’s lecture.

And judging from the way the woman carried herself, he knew it was going to be far less stressful than Trelawney’s vague warnings of death.

As if he needed any more of those in his life.

Chapter Text

After an absolutely delightful Arithmancy class, and a Transfiguration class that, while interesting, was barely able to keep Harry’s attention long enough beyond the basic facts of Animagi- which, he was excited to learn that Professor McGonagall was a feline Animagus, but it still wasn’t enough to keep his attention for very long.

He would just, go over the textbook again when he had a chance.

Lunchtime came quickly after that, letting them reunite with Luna, who had been in class with Professor Lupin, and had a small smile on her face as she approached the table and sat down with them.

“Sooo… How’s the new professor?” Daphne asked as the younger girl sat down at their table, piling chips onto her plate before she smothered them with cheese and brown gravy.

“Professor Lupin is rather nice.” Luna nodded. “He likes doing things hands on. But not the way Lockhart used to. We did a revision on Cornish Pixies, and he let us study a stunned one.”

Theo snorted, covering his mouth. “Remember when he released all those damned pixies into the classroom last year? And Harry just, booked it?”

“Of course I remember that.” Daphne cackled. “We all took off after him! Went straight back to the dungeons!”

“Listen. I wasn’t gonna fuck with that.” Harry shook his head, sipping his tea with a smile, before he turned back to Luna. “But, you feel safe with him? You don’t feel like he’s going to be dangerous.”

“Not at all.” She replied with a smile. “He is sick, but it is a… Chronic condition. He can’t help it.”

“Alright, good to know.”

Blaise leaned over, about to speak, before an angry shout came from the other side of the hall.

"If being good at Divination means I have to pretend to see death omens in a lump of tea leaves, I'm not sure I'll be studying it much longer! That lesson was absolute rubbish compared with my Arithmancy class!" Hermione snapped, slamming her textbook on the table and splattering what looked like carrots all over the place, one of them striking Weasley in the eye and making him yelp.

She huffed at him one more time, jutting her chin out before she walked right through the doors of the Great Hall. Harry was about to jump up and go after her, but Daphne beat him to it, holding a hand out to him and stepping out of her seat, jogging after Hermione and disappearing around the corner.

“...That’s a new development.” Draco said in amusement. “How did that happen?”

“Divination.” Harry smiled. “They partnered up for tea leaf reading.”

“Huh.”

After a few minutes, Daphne gently brought Hermione back into the Great Hall and over to their table. She had a few tear stains on her cheeks, and her shoulders were trembling a bit, but she sat down without a word and took the glass of water that Luna immediately handed to her.

“You okay?” Harry asked quietly, turning towards her with a worried gaze. Hermione nodded, offering him a weak smile.

“Yeah… Ron is just… A bit stupid sometimes. He doesn’t think before he speaks.”

“Want me to kick his ass?”

“Would you?”

“...Is that a serious request? Because I will go over there and beat the crap out of him if you want me to.”

“I’ll help.” Theo added from over his shoulder.

“Yeah, Theo’ll help.”

Hermione giggled, covering her mouth and shaking her head. “No, no… It’s okay… That’s a funny thought, though.”

Harry shrugged, sipping his tea. “The offer stands.”

The smile that had formed on her face made him relax. He always hated seeing his friends upset, for any reason, and if having to threaten other people made them happy again?

Well, that was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, in his mind.

“So… Who’s our Care teacher?” Neville asked, looking around at everyone. “I heard people mentioning that we have someone new this year.”

“Oh!” Hermione sat up a bit. “Professor Kettleburn retired so he could, and I quote, ‘spend time with his remaining limbs’, so Hagrid was promoted to professor.”

That, however, gave him pause. He didn’t have a grudge against Hagrid, not at all. In fact, he didn’t have any negative feelings towards the man.

But considering the fact that he’d smuggled a dragon egg on campus two years ago, and seemed entirely unphased by the fact that he had a very, very dangerous baby Norwegian Ridgeback around a bunch of children?

He felt a wee bit nervous about what Hagrid would consider appropriate for a Care of Magical Creatures class.

There wasn’t much time to dwell on that, however, as only a few minutes later, Luna lifted her head.

“You have to go now.” She hummed, shoving another bite of chips and gravy into her mouth. “The walk to Hagrid’s hut takes seven minutes, and Daphne would like to visit with Nestor before class starts.”

“Oh, yeah, makes sense.” Blaise nodded, standing up carefully and popping the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth. It took a moment for the rest of the group to get up to their feet, and after a quick farewell to Luna, who had a few extra minutes before she had to head for her class, they were heading out the doors and walking down to Hagrid’s hut.

Harry was actually rather happy to be outside. The fresh air helped to clear away the last remnants of his Divination induced migraine, and, even if he was feeling nervous about what the actual class would consist of, he was still excited to learn about the creatures themselves.

Daphne, however, seemed ready to combust.

“I can’t wait to see Nestor!” She grinned, bouncing up and down as they walked. “I hate not seeing him during the summer, I always feel like he grows up so much when we aren’t there.”

“You sound like a proud mum.” Neville chuckled a bit.

“I feel like a proud mum whenever I see him! Like, damn! I helped deliver that baby! I’ve been helping to take care of him for the last two years!”

“Does that mean Harry’s his dad, then? Since he helped too?”

Harry snorted, looking over at Daphne and grabbing her hand, twirling her a bit as he did so. “Didn’t you know? Daphne and I have been having a torrid love affair, and Nestor is our secret child. Theo, I’m so sorry you had to find out this way.”

Theo burst out laughing at that, having to cover his mouth and stop walking for a moment to keep himself from keeling over.

Daphne, deciding to just go with it, fake swooned, pressing her hand to her forehead like a fainting Victorian woman and falling into Harry’s arms with an overdone sigh. Since they had to keep walking, he just kept a firm grip on her and began to slightly drag her down the hill, the heels of her shoes digging into the dirt path and leaving two lines in the dirt.

“Oh, Mr. Hartford! When will you leave your floozy of a husband to be with me and our child?” She cried, continuing the dramatics, and causing everyone else to erupt into giggles as well. She opened one eye, a grin spreading across her face as she stood back up again. “I hope that answers your question, Nev.”

Neville sighed, shaking his head as he looked up at the sky. “You’re all mad, you know that? You’re completely mad.”

“So are you.” Draco teased, poking his friend in the side with a sharp laugh.

When Harry looked over to see where Hermione was, he frowned, realizing that at some point, she’d gotten separated from the rest of the group. He closed his eyes, feeling some of the tendrils of his magic, the ones that were connected to her, reach out for her.

He looked behind him once he felt the slight twinges, frowning even more when he realized she was up the hill, talking to Weasley and Finnegan again.

What she saw in those two, he had absolutely no idea, and probably never would.

“Hey! Is that Nestor?” Theo asked, his eyes going wide as he saw the unicorn prancing around in his pen. Harry looked up as well, sucking in a sharp breath.

Nestor’s golden coat was full of silver flecks.

“He’s getting his silver coat!!” Daphne cried, her eyes welling up with tears as she sprinted straight down to his pen, jumping over the fence without a moment of hesitation and immediately starting to coo over Nestor, who seemed just as excited to see her as she was to see him.

Harry raced after her, a grin spreading across his face. He carefully climbed up onto the fence, chuckling a bit as Nestor came up and rested his head on his knee, letting him run his hands through his mane.

“Hello, beautiful boy…” He cooed softly. “Aren’t you getting to be so very handsome?”

The unicorn chuffed a bit, pulling away and starting to prance around the pen, like he knew he was absolutely gorgeous.

Daphne laughed, walking over to Harry and leaning up against the fence next to him.

“...His second birthday is later this year, you know.” She said softly.

“Jesus… Isn’t that insane?”

“Completely.”

“...His birthday is the anniversary of our friendship, you know?” Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s just as mental.”

“Merlin… You’re right.” She chuckled, before shuddering. “Ugh… I still can’t believe that we were sent into the Forbidden Forest as eleven year olds… I tried to imagine someone doing that to Astoria, and I had this sudden realization that, like… I think I would kill someone if they tried to do that.”

“No, no, I get it. What the fuck?”

“Exactly! We were squishy babies! Why did they send us out there?”

“Because… Wizard reasons?”

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" Hagrid’s familiar voice called as the rest of the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

Harry groaned a bit, carefully climbing off the fence and holding his hands out for Daphne, who happily took them as she climbed back over as well.

Nestor came trotting over to them, his big, black eyes looking devastated at the fact that they were leaving, and she knelt down to gently kiss his nose.

“It’s okay, Nestor…” She crooned. “We have to go to class. We’ll see you again on the way back.”

That seemed to appease the not-so-baby unicorn, at least a little bit, as he let out a soft chuff before walking away again to go munch on a dandelion.

The two of them quickly rejoined their group, back to all smiles now that they were able to check on Nestor. As they all walked, Harry, whose mind was indeed on the Forbidden Forest and the detention that they had served those years ago now, had a moment of dread as he realized the direction that Hagrid was leading the class.

Harry had had enough unpleasant experiences in there to last him a lifetime, in his personal opinion.

However, Hagrid strolled off around the edge of the trees, and five minutes later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock, much larger than Nestor’s, but still the same style.

And there was… Absolutely nothing in there.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid called. "That's it- make sure yeh can see- now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"

“Uh, Hagrid?” Finnegan called. “How?”

"Eh?"

"How do we open our books?" Finnegan repeated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips.

Harry hummed, carefully grabbing his copy out and running his knuckles down the spine of his book, watching as his friends did the same. He’d figured out how to open the thing within only a couple of hours of getting it, and then it just became second nature.

The book was sentient, like a creature, and generally? Creatures like being pet.

"Hasn'- hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" Hagrid asked, looking crestfallen for a moment before his eyes landed on their group, brightening up again almost immediately. “Ah! See? Yeh've got ter stroke 'em! Jus’ like a cat!”

The rest of the class looked over as their books popped open with nothing more than a happy purr, and they all followed suit, stroking the spines of their books until they popped open.

"Righ' then…" Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his train of thought and was trying to find it once again. "So yeh've got yer books an' now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on... "

He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight, allowing some of the students to chatter amongst themselves. Mostly about just what Hagrid was going to bring out to show to them.

“What do you think, Theo?” Harry asked softly, leaning his head back against the other boy’s shoulder as he flipped through his book.

“Hopefully not Fire Breathing Salamanders.”

“Oh. Yeah, no thanks on that one.”

Draco hummed for a moment. “Maybe something interesting, like a Boomslang?”

“Nah, too dangerous.” Blaise shook his head. “It’s probably something simple. Like a Kneazle. Basic, safe, not likely to kill you.”

They were, however, quickly interrupted by Hermione’s loud gasp, causing them to look up.

Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Harry had ever seen.

They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly, orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.

"Gee up, there!" He roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

Harry could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once you got over the first shock of seeing something that was, half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black.

"So!" Hagrid laughed, rubbing his hands together and beaming around. "If yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer-"

Before anyone could stop her, Daphne launched herself forward, almost slamming into the fence with wide, excited eyes. Harry, after a moment of hesitation, followed suit, stepping forward and leaning up against the fence, his eyes locking onto one of the stormy grey ones, the Hippogriffs’ golden eyes locking onto his own.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do." The half-giant continued, gesturing to the tethered creatures next to him. "Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt.”

"Right -- who wants ter go first?"

There was an almost synchronized crunch as the rest of the glass took a step away from the paddock, and Harry could feel the waves of anxiety coming off of everyone. He supposed their fear made sense, as the hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn't seem to like being tethered like this.

He and Daphne, however, both immediately raised their hands, and Hagrid beamed.

“Right then- let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak, Harry! And for yeh, Miss Greengrass… How abou’ Moonshadow here?”

He untied two of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff that Harry had made eye contact with away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar, before doing the same with one of the inky black ones next to Buckbeak. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath as Harry and Daphne climbed over the paddock, after the former had passed his bag off to Theo for safekeeping.

“These two are real special.” Hagrid explained. “Hippogriffs don’ usually lay two eggs, but Buckbeak and Moonshadow were a set o’ twins!”

Moonshadow flicked her head a bit, studying the two of them curiously, while her brother seemed to just be agitated.

Harry and Daphne looked at each other, giving a quick nod, before they both looked up at the hippogriffs in unison, making eye contact with them for a few seconds before they dipped into a deep bow.

It took a moment for them both to feel comfortable looking up again, but when they did, both of the hippogriffs had bent into a bow as well, causing a wave of applause to form behind them.

Harry let out a sigh of relief, standing up again and slowly making his way over to Buckbeak, reaching up and beginning to gently stroke the hippogriff.

"Righ' then, Harry, Miss Greengrass." Hagrid said with a bright smile. "I reckon they might' let yeh ride ‘em!"

This was more than Harry had bargained for. He was used to a broomstick; but he wasn't sure a hippogriff would be quite the same.

One look at Daphne showed him that she hadn’t been expecting that turn of events either, but, as she always did, she took it in stride, allowing Hagrid to help her up onto Moonshadow’s back.

"Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint, an' mind yeh don' pull any of her feathers out, she won' like that..."

Quickly, Hagrid came around and helped Harry up as well, making sure they were both safely situated. He hesitated for a moment, staring at the feathery neck of Buckbeak.

Where was he supposed to hold on to if they didn’t like getting their feathers pulled?

“Harry.” Daphne hissed quickly, pulling his attention over to her as she gently wrapped her arms around Moonshadow’s neck, resting her head against the back of the hippogriffs’. He followed suit, wrapping Buckbeak’s neck in his arms right as Hagrid swatted both creatures on the arse, sending them both running.

Before he could even process what had just happened, Buckbeak’s massive wings opened up on either side of him and caught the wind, launching them up into the air so quickly it felt like he was on a roller coaster with how hard his stomach flipped..

If, a rollercoaster had no seatbelt and giant, unsteady wings.

He screamed, unsure whether it was a scream of excitement or terror, and he could hear Daphne’s excited whooping a few meters away. When he looked over, he saw her holding her arms out like they were wings, letting the wind run through her fingers as her hair whipped out of her face.

Slowly, hesitantly, Harry let go of Buckbeak’s neck, sitting up straight and holding his arms out as well.

And it was… Freeing. Freeing in a way being on a broom truly couldn’t be.

He just needed to trust Buckbeak.

He carefully brought his hand down to the hippogriffs’ neck, letting his magic reach out to the creature’s own, and he felt his heart clench.

He’d never felt such… Complete and utter joy from another living being.

Buckbeak’s emotions were far simpler than Nestor’s, or the basilisk’s, and yet they were so much more potent. So much more pure.

He didn’t speak with words, but Harry knew exactly what he was saying.

We are free as long as we can fly.

He looked over at Daphne, a wide grin on his face as he laughed, her expression mirroring his own. Up here, he didn’t feel afraid, or stressed, or… Anything.

Like Buckbeak said. They were free as long as they could fly.

They soared away from the forest, over the Black Lake, and around Hogwarts once or twice before the two hippogriffs began to take them back down to the paddock.

The landing left something to be desired, but, neither he or Daphne fell off, so that was a win. They carefully slid off the sides of their mounts, chests heaving and smiles so wide that Harry felt like his face would get stuck.

He reached up gently, cupping Buckbeak’s face in his hands, and he gently kissed the hippogriff's beak.

“Thank you, Buckbeak…” He whispered. “For letting me ride you, and keeping me safe.”

The hippogriff let out a soft chuff, nuzzling Harry’s cheek gently and nipping at his hair the way Mephistopheles always did.

“Good work you two!” Hagrid laughed. “Okay, who else wants a go?”

Emboldened by Harry's success, the rest of the class climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously, all over the paddock.

Theo had immediately come over to Harry and Buckbeak, gently bowing to the hippogriff and relaxing when he bowed back, walking up next to him and running his fingers through his feathers.

“Aren’t you striking…” He murmured softly. “Absolutely gorgeous feathers…”

“Isn’t he, though?” Harry asked with a smile. “Big handsome boy… Him and his sister are lovely.”

Speaking of Moonshadow, he turned a bit so he could look at Daphne and her hippogriff, smiling a bit when he saw that she was helping Neville and Blaise- who, apparently, had a severe fear of hippogriffs if his wide, horrified eyes were anything to go off of, get her comfortable with them.

Draco carefully made his way over to them as well, bowing nervously and waiting for Buckbeak to bow back.

As he waited, Harry’s ears pricked up at the sound of an all too familiar voice.

“How difficult could riding a hippogriff even be?” Weasley asked with a scoff. “I mean, Hartford can do it!”

“Ron. Don’t be rude.” Hermione hissed.

“Hermione, seriously, stop defending him. Honestly, what do you see in him that no one else in our house does?”

“He’s my oldest friend! He’s basically my brother!”

“Yeah, and your brother’s a dick who gets special treatment. I mean, really, why else did he get picked first to go on that great, ugly brute?”

Buckbeak, who had been studying Draco thoughtfully for the last few moments, suddenly let out a horrible shriek, like he knew that Weasley had just insulted him.

In a flash, the hippogriff reared up on his hind, sending Theo stumbling back in a panic, and freezing Draco in his place.

Time seemed to slow down, then, in a way Harry couldn’t explain. It was like he could see everything that was about to happen all at once.

Buckbeak slashing Draco’s arm open, his friend’s blood spilling out over the ground, and him writhing in pain on the ground as his wound gushed blood.

And the thought made him feel sick.

So, before he could even truly process what he was doing, he launched himself in front of Draco, his arm flying up to cover his face as Buckbeak’s talons came slashing down, and a searing pain ripped through his body as the sharp edges came in contact with his flesh, continuing down with such a strength and speed that he didn’t even realized the talons had ripped into his thigh until pain shot up his leg as well.

Buckbeak stumbled back away from them, his eyes wide and terrified, and Harry didn’t blame him.

It wasn’t his fault, not really. He was just an animal. He was an animal that reacted to cruelty.

He recognized that fear.

And he didn’t blame him.

Harry stumbled as well, the only thing stopping his fall being Draco’s sudden reanimation as he caught his friend, steadying him even as blood began to gush from the wounds.

He heard a girl’s terrified shriek from somewhere nearby, but his head was spinning.

His body really, really fucking hurt.

Holy shit. It fucking hurt.

“Oh… Oh I don’t feel good at all.” He murmured, stumbling once again.

Theo’s magic wrapped around him in an instant, gentle hands caressing his cheeks as his… friend?

His Theo?

Yeah, his Theo.

His Theo cupped his face in his hands, looking him over worriedly.

“Hagrid! He needs to go to the hospital wing!” Hermione cried, and before Harry could even think about what she had said, he felt himself get lifted up into the air, the distinct scent of earth, sunlight, and something that was uniquely Neville filling his nose as his friend hoisted him up, helping Hagrid pick him up properly.

Hermione ran to hold open the gate as their professor carried him through, and he let out a soft groan, tilting his head back as pain throbbed through his body. Theo and Daphne’s magic was right behind Hagrid’s, and he could feel the rest of the class following as well, although they were at a much further distance.

That sensation, however, was fading in and out the more his injured arm and leg were jostled, and his vision kept fading as well, shadows passing over the blurry masses that he knew were trees.

He knew these signs.

“Hm. I’m about to pass out.” Harry declared. “That sucks balls.”

And with that simple declaration, he went under, falling into a void that wasn’t restful, but wasn’t quite anything else either.

—

“For goodness sake, Mr. Hartford.” Madam Pomfrey sighed softly as she bandaged up his arm, his leg having already been treated. “School’s not been in session for twenty-four hours, and this is the second time you’ve ended up in my hospital.”

“Is that a new record?” Harry asked with a weak chuckle. He’d woken up twice on the way up to the hospital wing, mostly due to the violent jostling that came from Hagrid trying to sprint up multiple flights of stairs to get to said hospital wing.

“Unfortunately, yes!”

“Damn. I’m sorry.”

She sighed again, shaking her head. “No, no… Neither of those incidents were your fault at all. I shouldn’t be yelling at you.”

He shrugged a bit, grunting from the pain as she tied off the bandage.

“Alright. You should be just fine in two days. Buckbeak’s talons were sharp enough to sever some nerves completely, so those will regrow with the help of those potions you drank. You’ll feel tingly, and maybe even a bit numb, but you should be fine otherwise.” Madam Pomfrey nodded after a moment, helping him put his arm in a sling.

“Thank you so much, Madam Pomfrey. I’m sorry, again. I really wasn’t…” Harry sighed, shaking his head.

He knew why he had thrown himself in front of Draco, he knew that he was just trying to protect his friend from getting hurt.

But why had he not realized just how dangerous that would be?

If he had been just a step closer, Buckbeak could have severed an artery, or even just cut his neck straight open.

And there isn’t much that Madam Pomfrey can do for something like that.

“...Buckbeak won’t get in trouble for this, will he?” He asked quietly. “He didn’t mean to. He’s just a hippogriff.”

The medi-witch sighed gently, running her hand over his hair as she produced a chocolate bar from her apron and handed it to him.

“...I don’t know, Mr. Hartford. Although I do share your sentiment. Buckbeak is a wild animal, and wild animals can be unpredictable, but the fact that you’re as unscathed as you are is a miracle.”

He nodded a bit, his mouth pulled back in a grimace. He really, really didn’t want anything bad to happen to Buckbeak.

It was an accident. He had been in the way.

But, better himself than Draco, in his mind at least.

“Now.” Madam Pomfrey nodded. “Your friends have been outside the entire time I’ve been treating you, and I worry they may try and break down the door if you aren’t back in their arms in the next five minutes. Come and see me if you have any strange twinges of pain, or numbness that lasts for more than three days after your arm is fully healed.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

He quickly rose to his feet, limping a bit as he beelined for the door, wanting to avoid any further chiding by the medi-witch, and resigning himself to the worried anger from each of his friends.

To his relief, however, it was just Draco and Theo sitting there. They both jumped up to their feet when they saw him, their pale faces relaxing when they realized that he did, still, have his arm.

Theo gently wrapped him in a hug, kissing the side of his head and murmuring.

“I’m so glad you’re okay…”

“It’s just a flesh wound. I’m fine.” Harry chuckled, leaning against him and reaching out for Draco with his good hand. “You okay?”

The other boy wiped his eyes, his shoulders shaking a bit.

“What have I told you about putting yourself in danger for me?” He asked quietly, and Harry flinched. “You almost died last time. What if you’d lost your arm? Or- or died?”

“I didn’t, though.” He added, earning a harsh glare from them both.

“You’re damn lucky you didn’t.” Theo grumbled. “Otherwise I would have lost my shit.”

“Yeah, well… If I was dead, I wouldn’t be able to stop you.”

“Exactly. You’re like, 90% of my impulse control.”

Harry snorted, burying his face in Theo’s neck with a sigh. “Can we… Can we go back to the common room now? I’m tired, and I’d rather get the scoldings out of the way early so I can just go the fuck to sleep once they’re done.”

“That works.” Draco nodded a bit. “C’mon, we’ll go slow.”

The three of them slowly made their way to the stairs, inwardly groaning at the realization of just how many flights they were going to have to walk down.

“I hate my life.” Harry sighed a bit, before he resigned himself to limping his way down the steps, braced on either side by Theo and Draco, trying to keep him from falling down the stairs and injuring himself further.

Although, taking a tumble was a far more appealing option than having to face his friends, and Professor Snape, after what had just happened.

He just hoped Narcissa and Mrs. Zabini hadn’t been written to, because that, of everything that had happened that day, would be the worst possible outcome.

Chapter Text

It was, in fact, so much worse than Mrs. Zabini or Narcissa being written to.

In fact, while the two of them were sent a letter about the incident, due to their status as Harry’s guardians? They weren’t the ones who responded.

Harry was staring at the red envelope that the Malfoy family eagle owl had delivered to him with wide eyes, his still injured arm clutched tightly to his chest as he stared at it.

His friends, and the entire table for that matter, had all gone silent as well, the Howler on the table the subject of complete and utter horror by a majority of the house.

“...Who do you think sent it?” Theo asked quietly, grabbing his butter knife and gently poking the envelope.

“Well, obviously Narcissa.” Harry murmured. “But I just… Don’t know who’s going to be yelling at me. Have you ever heard either of them yell before?”

“Open it. Just… Get it over with.” Draco hissed, although he was already covering his ears.

He nodded a bit, slowly reaching out and starting to pull the Howler open, before it jumped up, opening entirely on its own, and an all too familiar, scratchy voice filled the air.

“KREACHER HAS JUST BEEN TOLD BY MISS CISSY AND THE CONTESSA ZABINI THAT MASTER HARRY HAS PUT HIMSELF IN HORRIBLE DANGER TO PROTECT YOUNG MASTER DRACO-!” A painful sounding sob broke through for a moment, before his house elf immediately launched back into his tirade. “WHILE KREACHER IS THANKFUL THAT BOTH MASTER HARRY AND YOUNG MASTER DRACO ARE BOTH ALIVE! HOW COULD MASTER HARRY SCARE KREACHER LIKE THIS?! KREACHER IS AN OLD ELF AND HIS HEART CANNOT TAKE IT!”

“KREACHER IS VERY CROSS WITH MASTER HARRY AND ASKS HIM TO PLEASE NOT PLACE HIMSELF IN DANGER ANYMORE! AND HE IS VERY GRATEFUL TO MISS CISSY AND CONTESSA ZABINI FOR HELPING WITH THIS HOWLER!”

And with that, the Howler tore itself to pieces, leaving them all in a stunned silence.

“...They went straight for the guilt trip.” Neville nodded solemnly. “An effective tactic, especially against Harry.”

“I just got told off by my house elf.” Harry whispered, covering his mouth as he tried to fight back his giggles. “Kreacher just told me off!”

“And Harry is also the only person who finds this funny, apparently.”

Luna lifted her head, a bright smile on her face. “No. He’s happy because that means Kreacher feels comfortable enough with him to be that aggressively caring. Most house elves would never speak to someone like that.”

“...Only you would be happy about basically getting cussed out by a fucking house elf, mate.” Blaise sighed, shaking his head with a smile.

Harry shrugged, sitting up a bit more as he went back to eating his breakfast. Sure, for everyone else, it was certainly odd to see a wizard get scolded by his elf.

But… That meant a lot to him. Kreacher trusted him. Kreacher cared about him.

Kreacher knew that he was considered family.

And that was what was most important.

—

Professor Lupin wasn't anywhere in sight when they arrived at their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. They all sat down, took out their books, quills, and parchment, and were talking when he finally entered the room.

Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.

"Good afternoon, everyone" He said with a slight glint in his eyes. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts before, unless you count the memorable class last year when Lockhart had brought a cageful of pixies to class and set them loose.

Harry frowned a bit, looking over at Blaise, who seemed to have the same expression of concern on his face.

Truth be told, even after Harry had explained exactly who Professor Lupin was to him, his friends were still wary of the man. Which, he did understand.

Their first Defense professor had Voldemort on the back of his head, and their second literally put a hit out on his family.

So, they were two for three on shithead defense professors, and Lupin being one of his godfathers was not doing much for him in their eyes.

But, either way, any practical lessons that they’d ever had were always a bit… Messy, to say the least.

The Gryffindors, however, seemed excited about the practical lesson, and were eagerly shoving their books back into their bags and grabbing their wands. After a moment of hesitation, the Slytherins followed suit.

As Harry rose to his feet, his wand between his teeth as he adjusted his bag once again, Theo was at his side.

After Buckbeak, the other boy was glued to him even more than before, only sitting away from him when the professors forcibly separated them. Not that he was complaining, mind, it was endearing how worried Theo was.

It was also just really funny watching him bowl over Weasley in order to get to Harry.

For someone who didn’t play Quidditch, or really work out in any way, Theo was broad shouldered and strong, basically shoulder checking every single person in his way when he had somewhere important to be.

"Right then.” Lupin nodded when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me."

Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.

Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away, then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into a completely tone deaf song

"Loony, loopy Lupin!" Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin-"

Rude and unmanageable as he almost always was, Peeves usually showed some respect toward the teachers.

Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling, if shaking his head at the absurdity of it all.

"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves." He said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get into his brooms, and you know how he is when he doesn’t have them."

Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker, was a bad-tempered man who waged a constant war against the students and, indeed, Peeves.

Peeves, however, obviously didn’t give a damn about Professor Lupin's warning, only turning around to blow a loud wet raspberry at the man. Professor Lupin gave a small, tired sigh and took out his wand.

"This is a useful little spell.” He told the class over his shoulder as he raised his wand up at Peeves. "Please watch closely. Waddiwasi!”

With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing.

And the laughter that erupted out of the students was so loud it echoed down the hall.

Lupin turned back to the students, taking a quick, dramatic bow as he tucked his wand back into the holster on his thigh.

“Thank you, thank you.” He nodded. “Are you ready to proceed?”

“Yes, professor!” They chorused, and Harry couldn’t stop the smile. He’d have to remember that spell.

Lupin quickly led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door.

"Inside, please. And do be careful, would you? I have special permission from the staff to commandeer this area for the day, but I’m sure everyone would appreciate their staff room being left intact after our lesson." Professor Lupin warned gently, opening it and standing back.

The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, sipping from a to-go cup of what Harry quickly immediately knew was coffee, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a scowl on his lips when he saw the students.

"Leave the door open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." Snape got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him the way they always did when he was trying to hustle away. He paused for a moment, next to his Slytherins, and rested a hand on Harry’s shoulder, looking at him and his friends, and giving it a slight squeeze.

The message was clear. If they needed anything, they knew where to find him.

They nodded up at him, and he disappeared down the corridor, letting them turn their attention back towards Lupin, who still had a gentle smile on his face.

“Is everyone ready to begin the lesson?”

“Yes, professor.”

“Wonderful!” Lupin nodded, heading over to the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.

Theo jolted a bit, and Harry immediately grabbed hold of his wrist with his good hand, squeezing it a bit to try and reassure him.

"Nothing to worry about, everyone. It’s just a Boggart.” He reassured them gently.

The sudden tense air made their professor chuckle, shaking his head a bit. Harry glanced around the room, noticing without much surprise that most of the students who were muggleborn or muggle-raised seemed, completely oblivious as to what a Boggart was.

For a moment, he almost felt indignant. How did they not know what a Boggart was? A monster-under-the-bed?

It was then that he remembered that he had read about the creatures in a copy of Creatures of the Night that he’d found in Grimmauld Place, and that sense of indignancy fell away immediately.

“I can understand why you’re all feeling a touch nervous. But, for those of us who may not be fully aware of what a Boggart is, allow me to explain. A Boggart, for lack of a better phrase, is the physical embodiment of fear. It is a shapeshifter that, when confronted, will take the form of what a person feels most.” Lupin explained, and Hermione immediately shot her hand into the air. “Yes, Miss Granger?”

“How does… How does the Boggart know what our worst fear is? None of the books I’ve read have ever explained that.” She asked softly.

“An excellent question. Boggarts are among the most dangerous class of magical creatures, as very little is known about them. What we do know, however, is that a Boggart is, in some way, psychic, and can read even your most hidden thoughts. That is why they are able to take the form of what terrifies you most, even if you, yourself, don’t realize what that really is.”

Harry paused, before he raised his hand, speaking once he was called on. “What if you have an abstract fear? Like, a fear of happiness?”

“Who has a fear of happiness?” Finnegan scoffed.

Lupin nodded a bit. “Excellent question, Mr. Hartford. While I can’t say exactly what the Boggart would turn into, I can say that it would find something to turn into. When I was a student, a classmate of mine suffered from severe Philiophobia, which is known colloquially as a fear of love, and the Boggart struggled for quite a few minutes until it finally settled on that classmate sharing a kiss with a person we didn’t recognize. Fascinating class, that was.”

“Oh, and, ten points to Slytherin for the excellent question.”

Harry grinned a bit, leaning against Theo.

“However.” Lupin continued, starting to pace in front of the wardrobe. “As the Boggart does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door, he doesn’t know what to change into. But, when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us fears most. There is, however, one advantage that we have over the Boggart, which is..?”

“There’s too many of us.” Draco said firmly. “It won’t know what to turn into.”

“Exactly right. Another ten points to Slytherin. It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a boggart make that very mistake- tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening!”

After a soft bit of laughter spread across the room, Lupin smiled again.

“Now, before we begin our lesson… I want you all to learn the Boggart repelling charm. Repeat after me, without wands if you would. Riddikulus!"

“This feels ridiculous…” Theo murmured with a small smile at Harry’s side, causing the other boy to snort as the rest of the class repeated the spell.

“If it works, it works.”

Lupin grinned, resting his hands on his hips. “Perfect, everyone. Now, I want you all to line up. When I release the Boggart, each of you will face it one by one. Think of your greatest fear, and then find a way to make it comical, because the thing that ruins a Boggart the best? Laughter. Take away what makes your fear scary, and make it silly instead. And, when you have the thought in your mind, call out Riddikulus, and make that awful little fear into something fun.”

Everyone clamored into a single file line, with Finnegan being the first up, his face pale with fear as he stared down at the wardrobe. Most of the Slytherins stayed at the back of the line, while the Gryffindors were going full throttle into the lesson.

Hermione shuffled to the back, standing behind Theo like she was absolutely dreading standing up in front of everyone and confronting her fear.

As Harry stood in the line, his wand clutched tightly in his hand, he started trying to think of what, exactly, frightened him. He had lots of silly fears, but he didn’t know what could be classified as his worst fear.

He didn’t like spiders, nor did he like roaches. He had a crippling fear of falling, which was hysterical if he thought about it long enough, as he was still a Seeker on the Slytherin Quidditch team.

He was also completely and utterly terrified of mold.

Or was it disgust that he felt about it?

No, it was definitely fear. Some of the things he’d seen growing in the fridge when he and Neville were cleaning out his home were horrifying and still hadn’t left his nightmares.

"On the count of three, everyone." Professor Lupin called out, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One… Two… Three… Now!" A jet of sparks shot from the end of Professor Lupin's wand and hit the doorknob, and the wardrobe burst open.

It took a moment for the Boggart to crawl out, but when it did, a woman with floor length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face crawled out, making a horrible croaking noise before her jaw unhinged and she let out a horrible, unearthly wail that made him flinch.

A banshee.

Finnegan yelped, before he steeled himself, brandishing his wand at the banshee and shouting.

“Riddikulus!”

In an instant, the wailing stopped, and the banshee grabbed her throat, making strange honking noises as she continued to try and cry.

He’d taken its voice away.

“Excellent! Ron, you next!” Lupin called, and Finnegan all but sprinted out of the way. Weasley stepped up, his face just as pale as his friend’s.

Crack.

The voiceless banshee suddenly turned into a giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, advancing on the boy in front of it, clicking its pincers menacingly like he was the tastiest snack it had ever seen.

Weasley let out a horrible whimper, before he too cast the spell, causing all of the spider’s legs to fall off and for its legless body to roll around on the floor.

Student after student faced the Boggart, each one more disturbing than the last and changing with violent cracks each time. The spider became a mummy, which became a fallen head on the floor, which then became a rat, a rattlesnake, a bloody eyeball, and then a crawling hand that reminded Harry of Thing from The Addams Family before it was snapped up in a mousetrap.

Then, Daphne stepped up, her expression tense as she held her wand out towards the Boggart like a weapon, watching as it changed from the trapped hand shifted into…

Her.

A much older Daphne, but a woman who was absolutely Daphne.

She was wearing a beautiful, green silk dress, and was on the arm of a handsome wizard that looked like no one Harry had ever seen before. She had a smile on her face, looking adoringly up at the man who he assumed was her husband, but there was something about her expression that was just so… Un-Daphne-Like.

Her eyes were completely dead, and her smile didn’t reach them.

She was miserable, even if her outer expression was one of bliss.

The girl sneered at her older self.

“Riddikulus!” She snapped, watching as the older version of herself disappeared, and was replaced by a cat with its head stuck in a tissue box.

Daphne didn’t make eye contact with anyone as she scurried out of the way, letting Draco step forward next. Harry felt himself tense up a bit, realizing that Blaise was the last person between himself and the Boggart.

The box-headed cat looked at Draco for a moment, before it turned into a face that Harry had only seen once before, on the Black Family tapestry.

Bellatrix Lestrange.

She, in her wild haired, manic glory, was cackling madly, aiming her wand at Draco like she was about to cast a spell.

In a flash, however, his wand was up, and Bellatrix’s fearsome face turned into one of surprise as she turned into a large albino peacock, which let out a fearsome cry before it pecked at the floor.

Blaise stepped up as well, his shoulders shaking a bit, like he knew exactly what would be waiting for him when the boggart changed.

And Harry couldn’t stop the pained noise that escaped him as well when it did.

Mrs. Zabini, cold and dead in a casket.

He reached out with his good hand, resting it on Blaise’s back, and feeling his friend’s shaking body.

“Go. Move.” He whispered to him, and Blaise nodded quickly, ducking over to Draco and Daphne without even trying to change the Boggart into something else.

That was too much for him to handle at that moment.

Harry stepped up then, taking a slow, deep breath as he stared at Mrs. Zabini’s casket.

It wasn’t real. He knew that. Mrs. Zabini was safe, at home. She’d helped Narcissa and Kreacher send him a Howler.

She was completely fi-

The crack of the Boggart’s change snapped his attention towards the ground in front of him.

And his heart stopped.

Gid.

Gid’s body, soaked in blood and glassy eyed, staring up at him. Blood slowly spread out across the floor, reaching his shoes and somehow keeping him frozen in place.

He couldn’t breathe.

“Ri-... Riddikulus.” He hissed out after a moment.

Crack.

Fiona. Tearstained, bloody cheeks, reaching desperately for a crib that was just as bloody as she was.

Harry felt his own tears welling up in his eyes.

“Riddikulus!” He shouted, jabbing his wand at the Boggart that looked like his Mum.

Crack.

Blaise, his body, broken and crumpled on the floor, eyes blankly staring ahead of him.

Crack.

Draco, face down on the floor with blood gushing from the back of his head.

Crack.

Neville, bruises covering his neck like he’d been strangled, his face uncomfortably blue.

Crack.

Luna with her throat slit.

Crack.

Hermione’s ripped up body.

Crack.

Daphne, covered in still bleeding stab wounds.

Crack.

Theo.

Oh god, Theo.

No, no no no nO NO NO-

Harry continued to thrust his wand at the Boggart, blood rushing through his ears and drowning out any and all sound. He was screaming. He was fairly certain he was screaming.

His throat hurt like he was screaming.

Hands were grabbing onto him, pulling him back from the Boggart as hot tears streamed down his cheeks, burning his icy skin.

They weren’t dead.

They couldn’t be dead.

They weren’t fucking dead.

Darkness covered his vision, and the familiar sensation of rain wrapped around him.

His hands came up to cling to Blaise’s robes, sobbing into his chest as his friend clutched him like he was going to disappear.

He still couldn’t hear anything, but he could feel Blaise’s chest rumbling like he was speaking.

Another set of hands were smoothing over his back. Theo’s, he knew immediately.

But he just couldn’t stop screaming.

It hurt. It hurt so much.

He couldn’t breathe. His lungs ached. His throat burned.

Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it fucking stop please god make it stop.

He just wanted it to fucking stop. Stop hurting. Stop aching.

He didn’t want to feel this anymore.

—

Boggart lessons, especially practical ones, usually ended in one or two students needing a few doses of Calming Draught before they could function properly afterwards. That was something Severus knew better than anyone else, because he was the one being approached for said Calming Draughts after those classes.

So, knowing he would likely have a few Slytherins in his office in a little over an hour, he began brewing a few fresh doses of it.

What he hadn’t been expecting, however, was for one of his students to come barrelling into his office so violently it nearly broke the door once again.

And, once again, it was Draco.

He needed to get a stronger door.

His head snapped up to look at his godson, his eyes wide when he saw Draco’s terrified, tearstained face. He rushed forward immediately, throwing off his protective gloves and cupping the boy’s face in his hands.

“What’s happened, Draco?” Severus asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “Are you hurt? What’s happened?”

“Harry. Help. Now.” The boy gasped out. “Calming Draught.”

“Harry needs help and a Calming Draught right now?”

“Yes.”

“Take me to him.”

The look of relief on Draco’s face almost made his stomach lurch as he cast a stasis spell on his cauldron, grabbing one of the finished vials of Calming Draught as he took off running after the boy.

Harry was having what could quite possibly be described as the worst first week back at Hogwarts in existence. A Dementor attack, his arm being ripped open by a hippogriff, and now an incident with a Boggart?

It’s like the boy was attempting to set a damn record.

As Severus ran after his godson, he was vaguely aware of another set of footsteps rushing up beside him, blonde hair and blue Ravenclaw robes whipping past them both as the easily identifiable sound of bare feet smacking against stone floors filled the hall.

Luna Lovegood was in a dead sprint, her face pulled into such a determined expression as she ran that he was fairly sure that any fool who got in her path would be taken out by sheer willpower.

The three of them, now being lead forward by Lovegood, continued their journey to the staff room, which was when the horrific screaming hit his ears as well.

It sounded like someone was being murdered.

“Out! Out! All of you- Out! Class is dismissed!” Lupin was shouting, all but shoving his students out of the door, his face twisted up in terror and rage. It lessened slightly at the sight of Severus and the students running towards him, and he pulled the door open wider to let them in.

Lovegood all but dove into the room, Draco close behind, but as he entered, allowing Lupin to close and lock the door behind him, he was struck with the most horrifying sight he had ever seen.

His Slytherins, doing everything they could to keep one of their own from falling apart in front of them.

Zabini had his arms around Harry so tight he would have thought he was trying to suffocate the other boy, if it wasn’t for the terrified tears streaming down his face. Nott was behind him, caressing his arms and back while whispering words that Severus knew would be comforting, if Harry could even hear him over his painful wails.

Daphne was sobbing, being held back by Luna, who was trying to soothe her as well, while Draco had simply gone rigid, not knowing what he could do to help.

Severus took a deep breath, kneeling down next to the three huddled boys and resting his hand on Blaise’s shoulder.

“Let me help.” He said softly, and the boy slowly nodded, letting Harry go just a bit and allowing him to scoot forward, uncapping the Calming Draught and pressing it into the boy’s hands, helping him bring it up to his mouth. To his relief, Harry drank it without a fuss, and it only took a few moments before the draught took effect, his shoulders slumping as the painful cries slowed to a stop.

Nott almost sobbed in relief, pulling his friend closer and letting his head rest on his shoulder.

Thankfully, Severus had made most of these draughts stronger than the commercial ones, so Harry was asleep and completely relaxed a few seconds later.

His face was still tear stained, and the visible strain on his face and body from distress made his heart ache a bit.

“Theodore.” He said quietly, causing the boy to look up. “Can you carry him down to my quarters?”

“I-I think so, sir.” Nott nodded a bit, adjusting Harry in his grip and standing up carefully.

“The rest of you, come with us. I need to give you all Calming Draughts.” Severus looked around at them, watching as each of the students nodded tiredly, obviously ready to collapse from exhaustion. Then, he whirled around on Lupin, his gaze cold.

“And you, will explain to me exactly what just happened in this damn room to send one of my students into such a state of panic. Do you understand me?”

The wolf tensed up a bit, and nodded slowly.

Once he got that last bit of confirmation, Severus opened the door, sending his students out first before he followed them out, Lupin at his heels as well.

The only thing keeping him from wringing the bastard’s neck right then was the fact that the children in front of him didn’t need to be traumatized further.

The second they were alone, however?

All he wondered was whether or not he would be charged for murder, or animal abuse, if he were to kill the man walking behind him at that moment.

Chapter Text

“Drink this, Daphne. You’ll be alright.” Severus said softly, gently pressing a bottle of Calming Draught into the trembling girl’s hands. She nodded, downing it quickly and leaning back against the sofa, quickly slipping into a deep sleep as he covered her with a quilt.

He’d had to give each of the students, except for Lovegood, a heavy dosage of the potion, just to keep them all from freaking out. The exhaustion that settled into them soon after they drank the potions would have been disturbing if not for their severe emotional reactions to Harry’s Boggart.

Lovegood refused her dose, but Severus wasn’t going to push on that one. She was the only one who hadn’t descended into utter panic.

“Do you need anything, Miss Lovegood?” He asked softly, looking over at the girl, who currently had Harry’s head resting in her lap. Her thin, long fingers ran through his hair, humming softly as she did so.

“If it’s no trouble, I would love a pair of socks.” She hummed, looking over at him. “It’s a bit chilly in here.”

“Socks? I can do that.”

Severus quickly conjured a pair of blue fuzzy socks, handing them to Lovegood and standing up. She put them on easily, grabbing a blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapping it around her shoulders before she went back to gently fussing over her friends and making sure they were all comfortable as they slept.

Truly, what would he do without her?

He gave one last look around at his students. Draco had his arms protectively wrapped around Blaise, and Daphne’s limp, sleeping body had just flopped against the two of them, her head resting rather comfortably against the back of the sofa.

On the other sofa, Harry was supine with his head in Lovegood’s lap, while Theo was, for lack of a better term, octopused onto him. He was a tangle of limbs, clutching at fabric and skin wherever he could get a hold of it, like he was afraid Harry would disappear if he let go at all.

He turned back towards the small corridor that led to his office, his expression shifting from the soft one he always tried to use with his students to match the anger he felt in that moment, and he strode right down it, heading for his office.

When he opened the door, slamming it so hard he did actually hear one of the hinges break, he saw Lupin jump, whipping around and on the defensive in less than a second.

At least the wolf’s survival instincts hadn’t gone to shit yet.

“Why didn’t you get between them?” Severus asked, his voice in a near growl.

“W-what?”

“Why didn’t you get between Harry and the Boggart? In fact, what the hell was his Boggart? I couldn’t get an answer out of any of them!”

Lupin looked ashamed, his gaze falling away from Severus as he slumped into his seat.

“...It… It was multiple people. One after another.” He said quietly, his voice shaking. “A man, a woman with a crib, and then each of his friends. All of them were… They all looked like they had been murdered, and then-”

Severus sucked in a sharp breath, covering his mouth as bile rose in his throat. The sound stopped the other man mid sentence, and he looked up at him in worry.

Of fucking course that was his Boggart. How had he not realized..?

“Fuck…” He whispered, moving around to his chair behind his desk and falling into it, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fuck… I should have excused him from the lesson. I knew I should have excused him.”

“Who… Who were those people?” Lupin asked quietly. “Who were they to him?”

“Have you been living under a fucking rock, Lupin?”

The wolf bristled a bit, shooting a glare at Severus.

“No. But I don’t have much of a reason to read the papers in the first place. Who were they?”

“Those people you saw? Were Gideon and Fiona Hartford. Harry’s parents. That crib belonged to his infant sister.” Severus snapped, anger flaring in his chest as he slammed his fist against the desk. “His loving, caring family, that was ripped away from him not even a year ago, whose deaths he’s still recovering from, and who were beloved by both the Malfoys and the fucking Zabinis.”

Lupin’s face became grey, and he covered his mouth. “How did… How did Harry know what their bodies looked like..?”

“Because he was the one who found them, you blithering fuck.”

“Severus-”

“The second you saw that his boggart was a brutally murdered person, you should have stepped in. You should have stepped in front of him and shielded him from it. Instead, he had to relive the deaths of his loved ones, and see the imagined deaths of his fucking family-”

“That wasn’t all.”

He paused, his mouth still open like he was going to continue his tirade.

“...What do you mean that wasn’t all?”

“At the end… When… When he was being pulled back by Mr. Nott.” Lupin said quietly. “Mr. Nott moved in front of Harry. To shield him, like I should have been doing…”

He trailed off, like he was afraid to speak.

“Spit it out, damn you.” Severus snapped, his heart hammering in his chest. “What did Theodore’s Boggart become?”

His stomach was churning, bile still at the back of his throat. Harry had been through too much. Hell, too many of his students had been through too much, and it was a damn miracle they weren’t all falling apart at the seams at any given moment.

Although, he figured it wouldn’t take much for that to happen.

“...It was Harry’s corpse. All… All beaten, and bloody, and… And it was horrifying.”

It was horrifying to hear as well. Knowing that two of his students' worst fears were the deaths of the people they loved most in this world… And yet, it didn’t surprise him in the slightest.

He knew Theo. He knew the fear that boy held in his chest. He knew the way he clung desperately to those he loved just so he could receive any scrap of affection from them because Merlin only knows he isn’t allowed any of that comfort at home.

And he also knew that Harry, the gentle boy that he was, gave it to him in spades, without a second thought.

It made perfect sense that his worst fear was losing that love in the most irreversible way there was.

Severus took a slow, shuddering breath.

He couldn’t think about that now. He had to help his students.

“...Get out, Lupin.” He said quietly.

“What?”

“Get out. I have things to do. Things to help my students with.” Severus said coldly as he dug around in his desk for a piece of parchment and a quill. “I need to write to Harry’s guardians.”

Lupin frowned, standing up. “Who are his guardians at the moment?”

“Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. Or maybe it’s Narcissa and the Contessa. I don’t know the details.”

“Wh- He’s with Death Eaters?! Why would Dumbledore- Actually, speaking of Dumbledore, why did he show up as part of Harry’s Boggart?!”

Severus, in a fit of anger that made him feel so unlike himself, grabbed his inkwell off his desk and hucked it straight at the wolf’s head, clipping his temple and making him yelp in shock, stumbling back.

“I said get out. Trust me. You’ll want to.” He growled out. “The Calming Draughts will be wearing off on Harry’s friends soon. I gave them much lighter doses than I did him. And when I tell you they are the most vindictive group of thirteen year olds I have ever met, I am not lying.”

Lupin, after staring at him for a few more moments, slowly nodded and left the room, allowing him to slump back into his chair.

He’d lied straight through his teeth about the Calming Draughts, but only about the dose. Each of them had a full one in their system, and it shouldn’t wear off until just before dinner.

But, they were a bunch of vindictive little shits.

And unless Harry could convince them not to go after Lupin, he suspected the man wouldn’t last until the end of the month.

Severus sighed, reaching into his desk to grab a quill, before he shook his head, going over to the fireplace in the back of his office, tossing a pinch of floo powder in to prepare the floo call.

“Malfoy Manor, Main Sitting Room.” He said, before he knelt on the ground and stuck his head into the flames.

This was going to be a difficult conversation.

—

Harry sat up slowly, warmth slowly falling away from his body as he did so. His vision was blurry and his head was so pressurized it was like a balloon attached to his shoulders.

He groaned a bit, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes.

What the hell happened..?

His senses felt strangely dulled, like he was underwater. Hell, he could barely feel his friend’s magic that surrounded him, which freaked him out more than he would like to admit.

How long had he been asleep?

“It’s okay, Harry.” Luna’s soft, dreamy voice said from behind him, gently pulling him back down so his head was in her lap. She smoothed some of his hair from his face, before one of her fingers began to trace the lightning scar on his forehead. Theo, who was very much squished into the couch next to them both, immediately wrapped his arms back around him. “Professor Snape gave you, and everyone else, a Calming Draught. Your Boggart lesson didn’t go very well.”

His eyes widened a bit.

That’s right. The Boggart.

“Fuck… Is… Is everyone okay..?” Harry asked, his voice thick and oddly shaky. “No one… I didn’t hurt anyone, right?”

“Everyone’s a little bit shaken up, but we’re all perfectly fine, Harry. Nothing to worry about.”

“Thank god…”

He sighed, relaxing fully as he closed his eyes again.

“...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

“Seeing the bodies of the people you love would scare anyone, Harry. Although it is very sweet to know that you love me enough to be afraid of seeing me dead.” Luna hummed. “The Tuggabets can sometimes make our heads feel funny after we cry a lot too. Do you need some water?”

“No, I’m okay… And what’s a Tuggabet again?”

“The funny little things that hold onto your head that make you feel really sleepy after you cry.”

“Oh. How do you get rid of those?”

Luna smiled, leaning down and kissing Harry’s forehead.

“Affection.” She answered simply, causing him to smile weakly up at her.

“Oh, yay… Thanks, Lue. Now, uh… Can you let me up? I need to use the bathroom.”

“Of course, Harry. Come right back, though. Theo will wake up soon, and he might break the door down if he thinks you’re in trouble.”

Harry nodded a bit, carefully extracting himself from Theo’s arms and the sofa, looking over the rest of his friends.

All of them had tear stained cheeks, but, they looked at peace for the moment. The wonders of sleep keeping their worries away for the time being.

He carefully made his way up the stairs to his dorm room, heading into the bathroom without making a sound.

As he washed his hands, he looked up at himself in the mirror, studying the face that reflected back at him.

He still wasn’t… Quite used to his new appearance. The larger scar on his forehead was a bit harder to hide, and the white shock of hair made him stand out so much more than he’d ever wanted to.

Harry sighed, shaking his head as he rinsed off his hands, turning back towards the mirror and freezing when he saw what was staring back at him.

His reflection smiled at him. A bitter, sad looking expression as it leaned against the bathroom sink.

“...It's your fault, you know.” It said quietly. “That Mum, Dad, and Prue are dead.”

“...What..?” He asked, his throat tightening.

“I mean, deep down, you’ve known that since the beginning. That they wouldn't have died if you weren't a part of their lives.”

Harry gripped the edge of the sink, taking a slow, shaky breath.

“I-it wasn't my fault. I don't care what you think. I wasn't the one who cast the spells. I wasn't the one who-”

“But, your presence in their lives brought their deaths.” His reflection crooned. “If they had never adopted you… If they had never kept you… They would still be alive. They probably would have adopted another little boy, raised him with love and care… Prue would have been born with a wonderful, normal big brother.”

“And she would have gotten to grow up. She would have gotten to say her first words, take her first steps… She would have gotten to go to school, and make friends. But instead, she wasn't even six months old, and now she's rotting in the ground.”

“Shut up.” Harry whispered, starting to shake. “Please. Please, shut up.”

His reflection smiled wider.

“You know I’m right. That's why you're upset.” It chuckled. “And for what it's worth, Harry? James and Lily wouldn't have died if it weren't for your existence either.”

“Shut up.”

“You know that too, though. Don't you. That there was something about you that made Voldemort seek you out that night. Something about you scared him. And your Mother and Father paid the price. Then, your Mum and Dad did too, because something about you frightened Dumbledore… Oh, poor ickle Harry, so freakish that everyone who loves him ends up dead.”

“I said shut up.” He grit out, tears streaming down his cheeks. That word caused something in his chest to ache. Voices that hadn’t crossed his mind in years fluttered through it.

Freaks don’t deserve food.

You should be thankful we even let you stay here! After all, no one would ever love a freakish little boy like you.

Just like your mother, you are. A freak. She married a freak, birthed a freak, and died as one too. If only you went with them, you wretched brat.

Harry choked back a sob.

“Who will be next? Which of those scenes that the Boggart showed you will come true?” His reflection laughed at the pain on his face. “There is a way to stop it from happening, you know. A way to stop everyone from dying…”

Harry looked up at the reflection, desperate for some sort of answer.

“Just… Kill yourself. Kill yourself, and no one will ever die for you again! That’s all you need to do!”

His heart skipped a beat.

Kill himself?

No, no. He couldn't do that.

He wouldn't do that.

He could do it. It would be so easy.

But… He wouldn’t.

He wouldn’t do that to his friends. Make them deal with the grief of losing him.

But could he handle the grief of losing them?

Harry shuddered, blinking slowly as tears streamed down his cheeks. He couldn’t even hear his reflection anymore.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he reached into the pocket of his pants with his good hand, grabbing out his pocket knife and flicking it open. After a moment of deliberation, he unwrapped his still injured arm, staring at the healing gash on it.

It would be so, so easy…

He carefully pressed the blade against his arm, watching the flesh give just a bit beneath the cold metal.

And he pushed it down the rest of the way, the pain not registering until blood bloomed from the wound, dripping down his arm and dropping onto the floor.

A small, shaky smile formed on his face as he watched the blood.

It felt good. Like a release he hadn’t realized he needed.

God, it felt good.

He dragged the knife across his arm a few more times, shuddering with every swipe. Tears were spilling down his cheeks again, but he didn’t care.

Eventually, the trembling got to be too bad, and he stopped, standing up carefully and beginning to clean himself up after he stared at himself in the mirror for a few moments.

He washed away the blood from his arm and his knife, drying it with a quick charm before he had to grab his wand, casting one of the disinfecting charms he’d picked up from his time in the Hospital Wing on the cuts before he summoned himself some bandages, wrapping them around his arm securely.

It looked remarkably similar to Madam Pomfrey’s wrapping, thankfully, so no one should ask too many questions.

Harry carefully cleaned up the rest of the blood with a few charms, sighing in relief when he realized he hadn’t left any stains. Once he was sure there was no sign of what he’d done left in the room, he slipped back out of the bathroom, looking around his dorm.

His eyes settled on Theo’s hoodie after a moment, and he carefully walked over to it, picking it up and pulling it on over his head, relishing in the tingling of his magic as it washed over him.

His magic, his scent… It was almost as soothing as Gid’s jacket.

He sighed happily, pulling the hood over his head and heading back down the stairs to the common room, tapping Luna’s shoulder to let her know he was approaching before he climbed onto the sofa again, burrowing into Theo’s arms and chest without a second thought.

He felt… He felt so much lighter.

He just couldn’t let anyone know what had made him feel better, because they wouldn’t understand. They wouldn’t understand how much it helped.

Telling his friends about the Time Turner should make up for that fact, actually, so he’d just have to do that soon.

With a smile on his face, Harry clutched his injured arm to his chest, closing his eyes as he let himself relax against his friends.

Everything would be fine, now.

—

Draco woke with a start, his chest heaving as he tried to suck air into his lungs.

The last thing he remembered was coming back down to the common room after Harry’s, understandable, meltdown in their Defense class, and then being given a potion by Uncle Sev.

Then, he was here. In the common room, it looked like, with a gentle hand rubbing his back.

Wait, who was touching him?

He whipped around, his eyes wide when he saw Neville crouched behind him, his face stained with tears as he pulled his hand back.

“Sorry… I was just waking you up for dinner…” He said quietly, his voice trembling. “You okay?”

“...Yeah. I’m okay.” Draco nodded slowly, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. “Are you?”

“Yeah, I just… Luna just told me what happened.” Nev sniffed, wiping his face with his sleeve. “...I can’t believe I was helping Professor Sprout replant Puffapods while you guys were… I’m so sorry…”

“No, no. Don’t be sorry. I’m… I’m honestly glad you didn’t see that.”

“Was it that bad?”

“Horrid, actually.” He chuckled weakly, rubbing his face as he looked around. It seemed like the rest of their friends had all disappeared somewhere. “...Is everyone else at dinner?”

Nev shook his head a bit. “Talking to Professor Snape. He wanted to make sure everyone was in an okay headspace. I stayed here so I could wake you up and make sure you were okay.”

“...Thanks, Nev.” Draco murmured, his eyes widening a bit. For some reason, he hadn’t expected that to be the reason the boy was still sitting with him. It took his friend a moment to climb up onto the couch next to him, but when he did, Neville wrapped his arm around his shoulders and hugged him close, while he grabbed his friend’s sweater like his life depended on it.

As much as he hated admitting it, that class had shaken him up. Seeing his aunt, seeing Bellatrix standing in front of him… It scared the shit out of him. In a way he’d never been afraid before.

They sat in silence for a moment, the two of them just… Holding onto one another.

“Do you… Do you wanna talk about what you saw..?” Neville asked after a moment. “What the Boggart turned into for you?”

“You’ll think it's stupid…” He replied quietly.

“No, I won't. I can… I can tell you what my Boggart is, if it’ll make you feel more comfortable.”

Draco hesitated, but nodded, looking over at his friend.

“...It's, ah… My Boggart is my parents.” Neville admitted after a moment. “Fully healed, and… And disappointed in me. Thinking I’m a failure.”

He sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes going wide.

That was Neville’s worst fear?

“...Nev…”

“I know it's stupid, because they're probably never going to go back to normal after everything they went through, but… But the thought that I might disappoint them because of who I am… It hurts. A lot.”

“You wouldn't disappoint them.” Draco said firmly, feeling a sudden flash of anger. He was speaking like he’d been told he was a disappointment before, and he couldn't stand for that. “Anyone who's disappointed in you is an idiot who doesn't appreciate how bloody brilliant you are, Neville.”

He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. His friend was staring at him in shock, like he hadn't been expecting him to speak so plainly, but Draco didn't let that stop him for even a moment.

“You’re a bloody brilliant Herbologist, so much so that Professor Sprout lets you work on the plants in the greenhouses without her supervision. You’re incredibly kind, you’re thoughtful, and you always go out of your way to help others. You’re the perfect Hufflepuff. Granted, there’s the whole accessory to murder thing, but I’m not going to count that against you because I’m also an accessory-”

He was only cut off by the laugh that erupted out of his friend, his face flushed a soft pink as he covered his mouth.

Draco stared at him for a moment, his own blush rising up on his cheeks.

“...What?” He asked quietly.

“Nothing, it’s just… You got so angry. In my defense. For something that can’t even happen.” Neville smiled a bit. “...You and Harry are the only people who’ve ever done that for me.”

“Yeah, well… Pretty sure my Mum would kill someone for you, so I hope that counts too.”

“It does, I think…”

He smiled a bit, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair.

“...I said I would tell you my Boggart if you told me yours.” Draco murmured, causing his friend to nod a bit. “Okay… So, it’s… It’s honestly stupid. It’s… My Aunt Bellatrix.”

Neville went quiet at that, looking over at him with a frown on his face.

“Your Aunt Bellatrix? Lestrange?”

“Yeah. Bellatrix Lestrange.”

“...Hasn’t she been in Azkaban for most of your life? Because of what..?”

Draco hissed a bit, looking at Neville with wide, panicked eyes. “I completely forgot about all that. I… Mum… Mum doesn’t talk about Bellatrix very often. So, I just…”

“Dray. It’s fine.” He reassured him gently, gesturing for him to continue speaking. “...Why is she your Boggart?”

“...She tried to kill me.”

Neville froze, his eyes wide and terrified as he stared at his friend.

“She..? She tried to..?”

“Yeah… She, uh…” Draco took a deep breath, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling. “Merlin, uh… When I was a baby, I was… I was really sickly. You know how most Pureblood babies are… So, Mum was spending all her time looking after me. She slept in my nursery for months, just so she could be up and ready to care for me if I so much as made an odd noise. Bellatrix didn’t understand Mum’s… Obsession, I guess. And because Mum wasn’t attending… Death Eater meetings, so she could take care of me…”

“Bellatrix thought that if she got rid of me, that it would make Mum ‘act right again’, whatever that meant.” He held his hands up, doing finger quotations as a sigh escaped him.

Neville covered his mouth with his hands, his face pale and his eyes teary.

His friend knew of his family’s connection with You-Know-Who. Hell, everyone did, so it took Draco a moment to realize just what had horrified him so much about the story.

It was the fact that he so calmly said that his aunt had tried to kill him.

Of course he understood the horror of that near decision. Neville was a pureblood wizard himself. Purposefully killing any wixen child, pure, half, or muggleborn, was a crime punishable by death. With how much some families struggled to conceive due to centuries of inbreeding, and the high death rate for infants, every child was considered sacred.

There was always somewhere for a wixen child to go, no matter what.

“So… What did… What did your Mum do..?” Neville asked quietly.

“...From what I know, and this is mostly from what little Dad has told me over the years… Bellatrix tried to do it right before a Death Eater meeting, so all of them were gathered in the dining room, waiting for… Him, to show up… And all he heard was my Mum let out this horrible shriek, and then some sort of violent crashing.” Draco explained.

“Everyone got up to investigate, because they knew that wasn’t a normal sound, and… Apparently, they found Mum casting some sort of curse on Bellatrix. She didn’t say any spells, didn’t do… Anything, and stopped the second that Dad got to her, but she had this… This look on her face.”

“...What kind of look..?”

“...Cold fury, is how he always described it. Like she just felt nothing as she was torturing her sister.”

“Understandably.”

Draco chuckled a bit, nodding as he ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah… Apparently, she locked herself in the nursery with me for two days afterwards. Wouldn’t even let Dad in to see me.”

“I… I honestly don’t blame her.” Neville chuckled, shaking his head. His eyes were still wide with visible shock, but… He seemed relieved at the same time. “...I’m glad Bellatrix wasn’t able to… You know…”

“I am too.”

They fell into another silence, this one a lot more comfortable. Draco gently rested his head on his friend’s shoulder, closing his eyes as they just… Sat together.

Being honest with another person like that was still strange for him, but… Neville was the type of person that could be told anything, and he would keep it a secret until the day he died.

And that was the best kind of person, in his mind.

Eventually, their friends slipped back out into the common room, most of them in varying states of half asleep and disheveled, and they all headed down to the Great Hall together.

They were bloody starving, after all.

Chapter Text

House Slytherin has always had certain… Stigmas placed upon them by the members of the other houses, and by society itself.

Slytherins were cold. They didn’t care about other people. They looked down on those who weren’t purebloods.

That Slytherins were, in essence, a bunch of mini-bigots continuing to be fed more bigotry their entire lives, only to be released as a stain upon the wizarding world.

Were these beliefs unfounded? Sometimes. There were plenty of Slytherins throughout history that absolutely did fit the bill.

However, that wasn’t the case for every Slytherin.

In Daphne’s experience, most of the Slytherins she knew were brilliant, kind hearted people who would do anything for the people they loved. They knew how to survive, how to slip into the shadows, how to make sure that they, and the people who they considered family, would survive the fight.

They were loyal to a fault, wise to the truths of the world, and brave when they truly had to make a stand.

They were the best aspects of each house in one, and that was key to their survival.

Daphne also knew, however, that Slytherins are fucking vindictive.

And she is one of those vindictive fucking Slytherins.

She was completely silent as she crept into the boy’s dorm room, her socked feet completely masking the sound of her footsteps as she padded over to Harry’s trunk.

Should she be stealing her best friend’s invisibility cloak to go and prank the hell out of their Defense teacher after the Boggart incident? Probably not.

Was she going to do it anyways?

Absolutely.

She carefully pulled his trunk open, grabbing the neatly folded cloak right off the top and wrapping it around her shoulders, pulling the hood up above her head and disappearing entirely.

Daphne hummed quietly, making her way back out of the dorm and down the common room stairs, adjusting the bag on her shoulder so she could shuffle through it for a moment.

Thank you, Harry and Snape, for giving everyone the idea of purchasing Extension Charmed Bags. They’re brilliant.

After making sure that all of her supplies were in place, she slipped out of the common room, heading up and out of the dungeons to go and locate the Defense classroom. It took a few minutes, but when she got there, a soft Alohomora was all she needed to get into the classroom and begin her plan.

With a flick of her wand, desks began to pile up in towers in the corners, leaving her with plenty of room in the middle of the floor.

A piece of chalk, to draw out the spell circle.

A few drops of blood from her own hand, to activate the circle, provided by one of her new quills.

A veritable army of dung bombs, made invisible by a quick spell so they would activate the moment someone stepped on them.

And, her absolute favorite part of the entire plan; Peeves.

Getting him to agree to work with her had been a process and a half, mostly due to the fact that convincing the bastard to do anything outside of what he wanted to do was as easy as pulling teeth, but, he wasn’t infallible.

Which is why he not only wasn’t snitching on her, but why he was getting free reign to cover as much of the classroom in bubblegum as possible.

Daphne whistled quickly, summoning the brightly colored poltergeist, who had a massive grin on his face as he held out his hand, taking the large box of Super Stretch Bubblegum that she had ordered from Honeydukes two days before.

“Have fun.” She whispered. “Don’t set off the dung bombs.”

Peeves nodded, choosing to be quiet for once in his life, and he immediately got to work, chewing up large wads of gum and starting to stick it to varying places in the room, stretching it across the room like disgusting, pink streamers.

Satisfied with her handiwork, she slipped back out of the classroom, locking the door again before she hustled back to the dungeons. Peeves was a poltergeist, he could just phase through the wall if he needed to.

She, however, would get saddled with so much detention if she got caught.

Thankfully, she made it down to the common room without further incident, slipping inside and taking off the invisibility cloak once she was safely within.

“Miss Greengrass.” Professor Snape drawled, causing Daphne to yelp in surprise.

Fuck. She’d forgotten about his late night common room checks.

“...Hi, Professor Snape.” She said quietly, turning to look at him.

“Would you care to explain just what you were doing out of the common room past curfew?”

“...Will I get in trouble if I tell you the honest truth?”

“That depends on the truth.”

Daphne paused for a moment, weighing her options.

If she didn’t tell him, she would get in trouble. If she did, there was a chance she would get in trouble.

She’d take those odds.

“I was pranking Professor Lupin’s classroom.” She said, standing up straighter and looking her professor in the eyes. “With dung bombs, bubblegum, and a spell circle of my own creation.”

Professor Snape raised a brow, studying her appraisingly.

“And… Why did you prank Professor Lupin’s classroom?”

“Vengeance.”

“...Vengeance?”

“Yep.”

The man nodded a bit, letting out a deep sigh. “And… You say that you created the spell circle on your own?”

“Yes, sir. I did.” Daphne nodded. “It’s essentially a magic glitter bomb. When Professor Lupin steps on the circle, it will explode in a rainbow of very, very sticky glitter, which will, if all goes to plan, completely cover him. It’s charmed to disappear if a house elf tries to clean it up.”

Snape raised a brow at that, looking… Legitimately impressed for a moment.

“...Fifteen points to Slytherin for ingenuity. Five points from Slytherin for being caught after curfew.”

Daphne nodded a bit. That was still ten points to Slytherin, she wasn’t going to complain about that.

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

“Don’t get caught again, Miss Greengrass. Next time, keep the cloak on until you’re back in your dorm.”

“Yes, sir.”

And with that, Snape disappeared down the corridor to his office, letting her sneak back upstairs to drop the cloak off again, before she finally went to bed herself.

She couldn’t wait for class that morning.

It was going to be absolutely spectacular.

—

Spectacular didn’t even cut it.

The second that Professor Lupin crossed the threshold into his classroom that morning during breakfast, an explosion rattled through the castle, sending everyone into a panic.

Everyone except Daphne, and Professor Snape, who simply sipped his coffee without skipping a beat, a small smile pulling at his lips.

Dumbledore, attempting to regain control over the situation, immediately silenced the panicking students, told them to stay in the hall, and rushed out of the room along with the Heads of House, leaving all of the other teachers to supervise them.

Professor Sinistra made her way over to the Slytherin table, her brow arched in question when she looked at Daphne, who simply nodded.

“Absolutely brilliant.” The Astronomy teacher murmured, shaking her head with a smile as she walked away.

“Daph.” Theo said seriously, looking over at her. She wasn’t shocked that he figured it out so quickly. “What did you do?”

“...Glitter bomb.” She said after a moment. “And like, fourty-something dung bombs.”

Harry spluttered, his eyes wide as the whole group turned to look at her. “Why did you do that?”

Daphne paused, shrugging. “Vengeance.”

“She’s angry about the Boggart.” Luna said knowingly, carefully puncturing her fried egg and flipping it upside down so the yolk would soak into her toast. “And how upset it made everyone.”

“Daph…” Harry sighed softly. “That’s a little much…”

“Oh, this was actually a much kinder prank than my original plan.” She grinned. “The bubblegum was a last minute Peeves addition.”

“Wait, you involved Peeves?” Blaise asked, his eyes wide. “Why?”

“Because. He’s going to take the fall.”

They all stared at her for a moment, mouths agape in shock.

And she just grinned at them.

Harry, who was finally able to close his mouth, broke out into a grin.

“...You’re evil, you know that?” He said softly, gently shoving her shoulder. “Absolutely evil. I love you for it.”

Daphne laughed, her head whipping back towards the entrance to the Great Hall when the door opened again. To her delight, the first thing she saw was Professors Flitwick and Sprout holding back laughter, while Snape simply had a smug smirk on his face. McGonagall looked furious, but that was just, generally the look the woman had on her face, and Dumbledore had lost himself to a fit of giggles.

Then, there was Professor Lupin.

Or, rather, the glittering mass of a human that was vaguely the same shape as Professor Lupin.

He was a rainbow of colors. Red, blue, yellow, green, even a smattering of neon pink here and there.

It was an absolute mess, and he was, in fact, covered from head to toe in the stuff.

And, as the entire school stared at him, he let out a soft laugh.

“...To whoever caused the mess in my classroom, I both despise and applaud you right now. That was incredible work. My classes are canceled for the day as I go and clean myself, as well as the classroom.”

“Remus! Surely you’re not going to let this slide?” McGonagall asked, appalled.

“I am, Minerva. I am. Apparently, I’ve enraged someone enough to the point of invention, because I have never seen a spell circle like that before. It was incredibly well done. The bubblegum was a nice touch as well, mind you.”

Daphne couldn’t hold back her smile of pride. She had worked really hard on the spell, and even though no one except her friends and Professor Snape knew the truth, she still let the praise wash over her.

Luna reached over, rubbing her back a bit with a small smile. “Congrats, Daph. You’ve officially outclassed Lupin at his own pranks.”

“Huh?” She asked in confusion. “What do you mean?”

She paused, before shrugging. “That’s just what the Whisbins said.”

“...Okay, Lue.”

—

Blaise did not consider himself an angry person.

In fact, Blaise considered himself to be an incredibly calm, relaxed person, who could keep himself in check even when everything was falling apart. The only thing that really ever set him off was Quidditch, when his friends were in trouble, and when he was getting angry on behalf of his mother having to deal with idiotic politicians who don’t know how to get their heads out of their asses.

But, those were three very specific scenarios, and outside of those three scenarios, he was a calm person.

Quidditch practice had started up once again, and they were thankfully able to keep the team they’d had the year before.

He, Draco, and Flint were Chasers, Pucey was still the Keeper, Peregrine Derrick and Lucian Bole were their Beaters, and Harry was their Seeker.

They were a damn good team, and if Quidditch hadn’t been canceled last year, they absolutely would have won the Quidditch cup.

But, they will this year. He was sure of it.

They were heading back up to the castle after practice, laughing and chattering about how genuinely good their team was practicing that afternoon, when he spotted a familiar form heading down the hill.

It was Luna!

“Lue! Hey!” Blaise called, pulling her attention away from where she was heading. A bright smile formed on her face when she saw him, and after excusing himself from the rest of the group, he headed down the hill to meet with her. He already knew that Harry and Draco were going to play chess when they got back to the common room, but he had no such plans.

“Hello, Blaise. How was practice?” She asked when he approached, the large, metal bucket in her hands catching his attention.

“It went well. I think we have a real shot this year.”

“Oh, good. I’m glad.” Luna smiled. “Would you like to come with me?”

“Uh… Yeah, sure. Where are you going?”

“Down into the forest. I’m visiting some friends.”

Blaise paused for a moment. He had no idea what sort of friends Luna could be talking about, but if they were in the Forbidden Forest, then he really, really needed to go with her to make sure she didn’t get hurt.

Plus, with the Dementors floating about… Two was better than one.

“Yeah, I’d love to.” He nodded, smiling at her as he began to follow her down the hill. “By the way… What’s in the bucket?”

“Raw meat.”

“...Oh!”

He, didn’t know what to say to that.

They walked in relative silence for a while, trudging through the muddy earth as they headed into the forest.

It wasn’t until they reached a large clearing filled with dark, skeletal horse-like creatures did he realize what was happening.

“Oh… Luna… What are they..?” He asked quietly, his voice catching in his throat.

“They’re Thestrals.” She smiled, rolling up the sleeves of her sweater and reaching down into the bucket, her hand getting covered in blood as she grabbed a glob of raw meat. One of the Thestrals, a small one that looked to be a foal, trotted over immediately, and she tossed the hunk into the air, chuckling when it caught it and swallowed it whole. “Do you want to feed them too?”

“Huh? Oh- sure.” He nodded, rolling his sleeves up as well and grabbing a chunk of meat, cringing a bit. “Eugh… Gross…”

“It is a little gross, isn’t it?”

“I’ve, never liked handling raw meat… Chicken, beef, any of it… Grosses me out.”

“That’s fair. It doesn’t bother me all that much.”

“So… Uh… Can you tell me about these Thestrals?” Blaise asked softly, looking over at her. “Just… Anything, really? I’ve never even heard of them before.”

“Most people haven't.” Luna hummed. “Thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen death. I think if we brought all of our friends out here, they’d be able to see them.”

“Because of Lockhart?”

“Mhm. Although Theo’s been able to see them longer.”

“How long have..?”

“Since I was nine. That's when my Mum died.”

“Oh, Lue, I’m so sorry…” He said softly.

“It's alright. Mum was a brilliant witch. She just liked to experiment too much, and one of her spells went wrong… Blew up half of the house and herself in the process.”

Blaise tensed, his eyes wide as he stared at her.

He hadn’t known any of that. At all.

He bit the inside of his cheek, unsure exactly what to say to that. What was appropriate to say to that?

“You don’t need to say anything, Blaise. It’s okay.” Luna smiled over at him. “I’m still sad about it sometimes, but I still have Dad. And that’s enough.”

He nodded a bit, offering her a small smile as he started to feed the Thestrals as well.

They were quiet for a while, tossing chunks of meat at the skeletal beings, before Blaise looked over at her again, something about her appearance catching his attention.

“Luna? Where are your shoes?” He asked with a frown, staring down at her bare, mud covered feet with a look of concern.

“Oh, the Nargles took them.”

“The… The Nargles took your shoes?”

“Yes. I think they gave them to Marietta. I saw her with a pair of shoes that looked like mine earlier today.” She hummed, running her non-bloody hand across the flank of the foal she was feeding. “She must have needed a new pair of shoes. I did like those trainers, though, they were rather comfy.”

Blaise’s brows furrowed. Marietta? The Edgecombe girl?

“...When did they go missing? And when did you see her with them?”

“When I woke up this morning, I realized they were gone. I saw her put them in her bag when I went down to the common room.”

“Oh, Lue…” He said softly, walking over to her and wrapping her into a hug with his still clean hand, gently pulling her head to his chest. “Do you want your shoes back?”

“I’d like them back if Marietta doesn’t need them any more. She really is a nice girl.”

“Alright. I’ll go talk to her. See if she really does need them.” Blaise murmured, venom lacing his words.

He was not an angry person, except in very, very specific situations.

And this was one of those very, very specific situations.

—

He didn’t even have the time to wash the blood and meat juices off of his hands before he tracked Marietta Edgecombe down, and truthfully, it wasn’t hard to find her.

She was the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang’s, best friend. They were always together.

So, if he found Cho, he would find Marietta.

And thankfully, they were in the courtyard, which meant he didn’t need to trudge through the school looking like a serial killer while trying to find her.

“Marietta!” Blaise called as he walked over, his jaw set and his brows furrowed. Luna was a bit behind him, her own hands covered in blood as she held the meat bucket by the handle. The two other Ravenclaws startled when they saw him approaching, and while Cho just seemed concerned, like she was wondering if he was hurt or something, while Marietta seemed… A bit scared.

“Where are her shoes?” He huffed as he got close enough, pointing to Luna. “Because I know you have them, and if you just hand them over now, I won’t have to get anyone else involved.”

“I-... I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Marietta said indignantly, tilting her nose up at him. “Loony Lovegood is always walking around without her shoes on.”

Loony Lovegood?

What the fuck?

“...What did you just call her?” He asked quietly.

“Mari, stop…” Cho said softly. “I told you not to take her shoes. You’re just being cruel.”

“Cho. Out of respect for you as a fellow Quidditch player, I’d appreciate it if you stayed out of this.” Blaise looked at her with a firm gaze, causing her to nod a bit and stand up, backing away from the two of them as he leaned down to Marietta’s level, looking her square in the eyes. “...Give me the shoes. Now.”

“I already told you, Zabini. I don’t have the shoes.”

“Then… where are they?” He asked, raising a brow as he leaned in closer.

Marietta glared back again, about to open her mouth to speak when Blaise stood up straight, grabbed his wand from the holster on his thigh, and flicked it.

“Accio Luna Lovegood’s trainers.” He said with a smile, watching with delight as the girl’s bag suddenly lurched forward, flying into his hands.

“Hey-!” She yelped, eyes wide as she watched him open her bag, grab the trainers, and then toss it back at her.

“...If I ever hear that you’ve been fucking with Luna ever again, I won’t be as nice.” He stared down at her, his eyes flaring with hate for just long enough to make her shrink away from him, going pale as she grabbed her bag and took off running.

Blaise hummed a bit, studying Luna’s pale blue, doodled on high top trainers and brushing some loose fibers off of them, walking back over to his friend and offering them to her with a smile.

“Here. Marietta didn't need them as much as she thought she did.”

“Thank you, Blaise!” Luna beamed, standing up on her toes and kissing his cheek. “I’ll be sure to wrap them up in my Nargle-proof charms before I go to sleep tonight.”

“No problem, Lue.” He grinned, blushing a bit from the kiss. “And let me know if they go missing again, okay?”

“I will. We should go wash our hands. I think we're scaring the other students.”

“Good idea.”

He did, after all, have some more people to talk to.

—

The next morning, Marietta Edgecombe woke up with her hair dyed a neon pink, and was bit to hell and back with Chinese Chomping Cabbages that had been left inside of her trunk, having to spend the rest of the day locked up in the hospital wing so she could recover.

While no culprits were officially caught, anyone paying enough attention to the Slytherin table saw Neville and Draco high five each other.

And really, it shouldn’t have been so easy to sneak into the Ravenclaw dormitories.

—

“Oi! You two! Back the fuck off!” Theo shouted as he marched down the corridor, his shoulders squared as he glared daggers at the two Gryffindor fifth years, whose faces had gone pale at his sudden arrival.

It was like they hadn’t expected to get caught terrorizing a little girl.

Astoria, who had tears streaming down her cheeks, looked up at him in visible relief, yanking herself away from the two boys and rushing into his arms, letting him hug her close for a moment before gently pushing her behind him.

“Do you really have nothing better to do than pick on a first year? Merlin, you’re pathetic.” He snapped. “She’s a damn kid. The hell is wrong with you?”

“She’s a damn snake, is what she is.” One of the boys huffed at him, gesturing his wand at Theo like he was going to cast a spell at him. Astoria flinched a bit, shrinking further behind the older boy, and that just pissed him off further.

They terrified her. That wasn’t fucking okay.

“And you’re almost a grown man. What’s your excuse? Egos so fragile that an eleven year old girl walking to class on her own drives you up the wall? Or are you so cowardly that a little girl scares you to the point of needing to threaten her? Because no matter how you try and spin this, you look like a couple of fuckwits.”

He knew he was poking a dragon with that, but, that didn’t really matter to him at the moment.

The other boy, the one who had been silent the entire time, suddenly rushed forward, arm reared back like he was going to strike Theo.

But before he could, he was frozen mid stride, like he’d been petrified.

Theo, despite not having been frozen, tensed up, his gaze flicking around wildly for a moment before it landed on Professor Sinistra, who flicked her wand a second time, petrifying the other Gryffindor boy.

The normally kind, bubbly woman had a look on her face that could only be described as utter disgust.

“Bullying first years… You should be ashamed of yourselves.” She shook her head disapprovingly. “Thirty points from each of you for such cruel behavior, and another fifteen from you, Reynolds, for attempting to physically attack another student.”

She glared at them both, before she turned to Theo and Astoria, her face returning to its normal, gentle grin.

“Now… Mr. Nott, would you mind escorting Miss Greengrass to her next class? I’ll take care of these boys myself.”

“Of course, Professor.” Theo nodded, turning around and looking at the younger girl, offering her a small smile. “So. Where to?”

“Uhm, I-I have Potions next.” Astoria said softly.

“Perfect. I wanted to speak with Professor Snape anyways.” He nodded a bit, holding out his arm and letting her loop hers into it. Once he had her securely next to him, they started to walk, a grin sneaking onto his face as he heard Professor Sinistra begin to absolutely lay into the two petrified boys in the hallway.

Nearly getting his shit rocked was so, so worth it.

Chapter Text

“Harry.” Daphne hummed a bit. “Purely out of curiosity, what is muggle primary school like?”

He paused for a moment, the next page of his book half turned as he thought about her question. Out of their group, they were the only ones taking Muggle Studies, and as Harry was the resident muggle raised student in their friend group, he was usually the one who was asked questions.

Or Hermione, when she was around, but she was currently hiding out in one of the many little alcoves in the school getting a nap before they had to go down for Care of Magical Creatures, so she was unavailable.

Between the two of them, Daph had a goldmine of information about muggles, but that didn’t mean they had the answers to all of her questions.

“Uh… Honestly, I don't remember?” He said softly, shrugging. “I stopped going when I was seven.”

“Wait, really?” Blaise asked in surprise. “I thought it was mandatory for muggle kids to go to school. Why didn't you go?”

Harry shrugged. “Once Mum and Dad adopted me, they pulled me out of regular schooling. I did self study at home and took tests. Which, basically meant I would cram all the information into my head over the course of two days, take some tests at the library, and then I would repeat that the next week.”

“...Huh. Neat! I didn’t know that was an option!”

“Why do you ask?” Harry tilted his head.

“I’m writing an essay for Professor Burbage about the differences in Muggle and Wixen education. Extra credit assignment.”

“Oh, okay.”

They fell back into a peaceful silence, enjoying the fresh air in the courtyard and the cool breeze that blew over them, almost blowing their parchments out of their hands. Daphne cursed, slamming her wrist down onto the one she was working on to keep it with her.

Theo jumped up, grabbing the few pieces that had started to blow away, and began to hand them back to his friends, stopping when he got to Luna and Daph.

"Uhh… Why is Luna biting your sweater like that?" He asked, his eyes flicking over the two girls in front of him.

That was a weird thing to say.

Harry looked up, his eyes widening a bit as he attempted to stifle a giggle.

It was certainly an odd sight. With one hand, Daphne was writing her essay, while her other hand was dangling limply in her sweater sleeve, held up only by the strength of Luna's teeth, while the other girl was taking notes from her Transfiguration textbook.

"The texture feels good, apparently." She replied without looking up. "The Bibblebubs leave her alone if her head is clear, which, biting my sweater makes her head clear."

"...Okay." Theo nodded a bit, having long since learned not to question Luna's oddities. "...That makes no sense, but I don’t know enough about Bubblebubs to question that statement, so I just won’t.”

Luna let Daphne’s sweater fall from her mouth then, lifting her head and looking towards the doors attached to the Great Hall with a strange expression on her face. Then, she turned to look at Harry.

“Fred and George Weasley are coming. They want to talk to you.” She said softly, causing him to sit up and close his book.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s bad, though.”

He was about to ask more questions, like what they wanted, and how they knew where he was, but he was interrupted by the sparkling sensation of fireworks at his back, making him jump up and whip around.

Just like Luna had said. Fred and George Weasley. The twins.

Objectively, Harry’s favorite Weasleys.

He could feel his friends bristle a bit, all of them staring at the older boys like they were ready to jump them without a second thought, when George offered him a smile.

“Hey, Hartford. Do you mind if we talk?” He asked gently, Fred standing close behind. “Your friends can be here too, if that makes you feel more comfortable.”

He paused, studying them both for a moment.

The Weasley Twins were a sort of enigma to most of the other students. Identical in every physical way, and seemingly so close that they could even read each other’s minds.

Harry, however, knew differently. He could tell them apart without even having to look at them.

Both of them had magic like fireworks. That was the best way to describe it. But where Fred was the loud, booming fireworks that exploded in violent flashes of light that made your ears hurt from the noise when you were too close, George was the soft, sizzling golden ones that shot up around the booming ones. They were quieter, but no less dazzling and bright.

That was part of the reason he liked them so much. Their magic was just, fun.

“Uh… Yeah, sure.” He nodded a bit, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Can we sit?” Fred asked, and once he got a nod from Harry, both of them came down the steps a bit and sat down. He sat down a bit away, relaxing when he felt Theo and Neville scoot closer to him.

“So, listen…” George sighed, running a hand through his hair. “About everything that happened last year, with Ginny, and Ron, and… And even our parents?”

“We are, incredibly sorry.” His brother continued. “It was ridiculous, and stupid, and… After everything that happened, all the hell those two put you through, you never got an apology.”

“Which, is what we’re doing now.”

“We weren’t asked to do this.”

“Nor do any of our family really want us to do this, besides Bill and Charlie, but those two don’t like the idea of major conflict anyways-”

“But, we digress. You went through hell because of us Weasleys last year, Hartford, and adding in everything else… It was shit, and you didn’t deserve that.” Fred shook his head. “We really are sorry. Especially because neither Georgie or I tried to put a stop to it.”

Harry blinked a few times. They were… Genuinely apologetic about what happened.

That was odd. He wasn’t expecting this.

“It’s… Fine?” He offered after a moment, unsure of what they wanted him to say. “It’s not your guys’ fault you’ve got weird siblings. And they’ve more or less left me alone this year, so…”

“Yeah, well. Still Ron’s fault your arm got fucked up.” Fred huffed.

“And, while we know it wasn’t what you meant to do, we still wanted to thank you for uh… Not leaving Ginny to die in the Chamber of Secrets?” George chuckled. “I know it was an accident, but… We do still appreciate it, and we wanted to give you something as a proper apology.”

Theo sat up a bit more, resting his chin on Harry’s shoulder as they watched Fred pull something from inside his cloak with a flourish and hold it out to them. It was a large, square, very worn piece of parchment with absolutely nothing written on it.

"What's that supposed to be?"

"This, Hartford, is the secret of our success!" George grinned, patting the parchment fondly.

"It's a wrench, giving it to you." Fred sighed, shaking his head in mock mourning. "But we decided your needs are greater than ours, especially with all those very, very clever pranks you snakes have been pulling."

"Anyway, since we know it by heart." George continued."We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore."

“So… What is it? A piece of old parchment?” Daphne asked, having gotten up to walk over and see what was going on.

"A bit of old parchment!" Fred exclaimed with a grimace."Explain, George."

"Well... When we were in our first year, kids- young, carefree, and innocent-" George said/

Harry snorted at that. He doubted whether the twins had ever been innocent.

The older boy grinned at that.

"Well, more innocent than we are now, but we got into a spot of bother with Filch. We set off a dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason-"

"So he hauled us off to his office and started threatening us with the usual. Detention, disembowelment, pulling off our fingernails, and we couldn't help noticing a drawer in one of his filing cabinets marked Confiscated and Highly Dangerous.” Fred grinned, and Harry felt like he knew exactly where this was going.

“So, you set off another dungbomb and stole this from the cabinet?”

“Bingo!” George chuckled, then looked almost a little sheepish. "It's not as bad as it sounds, you know. We don't reckon Filch ever found out how to work it. He probably suspected what it was, though, or he wouldn't have confiscated it."

"And you know how to work it?" Neville asked with an arched brow.

"Oh yes.” Fred said with a smirk. "This little beauty's taught us more than all the teachers in this school."

Then, before any of his audience could say much more, he grabbed his wand, held it against the parchment, and spoke.

And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that Fred's wand had touched.

They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:

It was a map showing every detail of the Hogwarts castle and grounds. But the truly remarkable thing were the tiny ink dots moving around it, each labeled with a name in minuscule writing. Astounded, Harry leaned closer to it. A labeled dot in the top left corner showed that Dumbledore was pacing his study; the caretaker's cat, Mrs. Norris, was prowling the second floor; and Peeves the Poltergeist was currently bouncing around the trophy room.

In the courtyard, he could see himself, his friends, and the Weasley twins all sitting around one another.

“Holy shit…” He whispered, his eyes wide. “And this is..?”

“All happening right now.” George nodded. “We used it to sneak around the castle without being caught for years.”

“Brilliant.” Harry murmured. “How do you turn it off?”

“Tap your wand against it, and say ‘Mischief Managed’.”

He nodded, grabbing his wand and doing exactly as the older boy instructed. The ink slowly faded away, until it left nothing but a blank piece of parchment. Once it was cleared again, Fred gently pushed it into his hands.

“Here.” He said softly. “We’re passing it on to you. Merlin only knows you need it, with how this school seems to hate you.”

“...Thanks, guys.” Harry nodded slowly, his hands clutching the map as he looked up at them. The twins smiled at him, reaching out and ruffling his hair one after the other.

“And hey. If you ever need any help, we’ll be there, alright?” George chuckled, standing up and brushing off his trousers, Fred following suit. “Have fun, and good luck.”

With that, the two of them disappeared back into the castle, leaving Harry and his friends staring in shock at the map that had just been bequeathed to them.

“...Holy shit.” Daphne murmured, kneeling down to look at it. “Harry, can you get any magic from it?”

“Not right now… Maybe because the magic is dormant when the map is?” He said softly, about to activate the map again when there was a sudden, booming bell ring.

Dammit. They had to go to class.

“I’ll figure it out later.” Harry promised, quickly tucking the map, and his book, into his bag, and helping his friends gather their stuff up as well, before they took off running out of the courtyard, heading down to Hagrid’s hut for today’s lesson after saying bye to Luna, who had to go to Transfiguration.

Halfway down, Hermione joined them, also in a dead sprint, and still looking half asleep. He gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned, before they went back to hoofing it down the hill.

Hopefully, class wouldn’t be as chaotic today, because Harry had something else he wanted to be able to focus on when he got done for the day, and ending up in the hospital wing again was not high on his list of priorities.

—

The Marauder’s Map was a fucking beautiful creation, and it was incredibly well made.

Harry smiled softly, gently running his fingers over the aged parchment as he felt the swirling magic within, watching as the students rushed around to get to the Great Hall from where he was relaxing in the common room.

He had elected not to go to dinner that night, simply asking that Theo bring him back a sandwich of some sort if he’s able to, knowing full well that his… His Theo would bring him back a sandwich that was Scooby Doo worthy.

He and Theo really needed to figure out what they were to each other. As much as he liked referring to the other boy as ‘his Theo’, he wanted to know what the right term for them was.

Harry shook his head, sighing a bit as he went back to looking at the map, allowing his magic to flicker along the ink as he watched his friends sit around the Slytherin table.

The map, like Hogwarts and Grimmauld Place, had a sort of sentience to it. Not in the way that those two buildings did, no, but in the sense of… The map’s magic reacted to him in a similar way, coiling around his fingers and holding him gently, like it was truly happy to be held by him.

There was something odd about it, though.

It was like there were multiple strands of magic woven into it, each one completely different than the last. Even stranger, it felt like he knew each strand.

One was warm, and gentle. Cinnamon, campfires, and song, like the Potter ring that rested upon his finger.

Another felt tired and afraid, like the person it belonged to had seen too much in their life, while also carrying the scent of upturned earth and the fur of a beast.

The third filled his mouth with the taste of blood, like just after a bloody nose, and smelled like smoke and starlight.

And the last one, the last one, felt… Cold. Cold in a way that didn’t feel right.

Not the chill of death, because he knew what that felt like in magic, but the chill of… Of betrayal.

Of a traitor. Someone cruel, deep in their heart.

Magic never lies. That’s something Harry figured out early on. Magic was the one thing in the world that never, ever lied.

He grimaced a bit, trying to follow the cold thread, and feeling it connect to one name in particular.

Wormtail.

“...That’s a terrible nickname.” Harry murmured, glaring at the written name. “What were you, then, Wormy? A rat? That sounds like a name for a rat…”

He huffed, grabbing his wand and tapping the map. “Mischief Managed.”

The magical ink slowly swirled away, and he tucked the map back into his pocket, running a hand through his hair and moving to stand, before he heard the common room door open, and he lifted his head.

“Uhm… Harry? Are you in here?” Astoria asked, catching his attention.

“Hey, Tori. What’s up?” He tilted his head, smiling at the way the younger girl’s face relaxed immediately.

“Professor Lupin asked me to ask you to meet him in his office. He said that you need to have a… One on one, I think is what he called it?”

“Yeah? Sweet.” He nodded, popping up the rest of the way and walking over to her. “Are you heading back down to the Great Hall, or..?”

“No, I wanted to get some potions homework done.” She shook her head.

“Alright. Good luck.”

“Thank you, Harry.”

Harry smiled at her again, slipping out of the common room and heading down towards the Defense classroom. He was glad that Lupin was finally getting around to talking to him.

They were overdue at this point, and he had… He had a lot of questions.

And considering the fact that Lupin likely thought that Sirius was guilty… He’d have to ask about him in a roundabout way if he wanted to get any results at all.

—

Remus felt…

He felt. He certainly felt. He didn’t know exactly what he felt, but he felt it.

It was some sort of horrible mixture of anxiety, anger, sadness, and just utter dread that had settled into his body from the minute he’d gotten onto the Hogwarts Express for the first time in over a decade, and just refused to go away.

And it had only gotten worse since he’d actually begun teaching, and Harry had been involved in three incidents in less than a week.

A dementor attack, a rogue hippogriff, and the boggart from hell.

And he really didn’t know how to feel about that.

Albus had told him that Harry attracted trouble, just like his father did. Albus had told him that Harry was loyal to a fault, even towards people who would likely end up hurting him in the end, and that was certainly something he shared with both James and Lily. Hell, the indignant look the boy had mastered when it came to talking to people he didn’t like reminded him so, so much of Lily.

But that was where any and all similarities ended.

Which was when Remus had to remind himself that, even though Harry was James and Lily’s son, he wasn’t raised by them, so there was no possible way he would be just like his parents. That was, honestly, one of the reasons he had asked for this meeting.

He wanted to get to know his godson for who he actually was, not for who he thought he should be.

So, there he was, pacing back and forth in his office and waiting for Harry to come to him.

It was times like these that Remus desperately wished that they hadn’t been so stupid as teenagers, getting the map confiscated by Filch was, not one of their proudest moments.

But, he would have liked to have had at least a bit of forewarning before Harry shoved his office door open, startling the professor so badly he knocked a few books off the shelves.

“Whoops.” Harry flinched a bit. “Sorry…”

“It’s alright.” Remus chuckled, shaking his head as he grabbed his wand, flicking it and sending the books back into place. “Please, please. Come in. I’m sorry you had to wait so long for us to have this meeting…”

“It’s fine, sir.” The boy said as he slipped further into the room, closing the door behind him and walking over to his desk, taking a seat without needing to be invited. His eyes flickered over to the tank in the corner, his head tilting. “A Grindylow?”

“Yes, actually. How did you..?”

“Daph has a book on aquatic creatures. She showed the aquatic section to me after we watched a shark eat a pufferfish at an aquarium before second year.”

…Huh.

“Interesting!” Remus chuckled as he sat down. “I had no idea that sharks could eat pufferfish. I thought they were poisonous.”

“They are, but, I checked it at the library, and something about the way sharks digest their food makes them immune to the toxins in a pufferfish.” Harry nodded. “But, either way, she showed me the entry on Grindylows because she was upset that the only known way to defeat them is to break their fingers.”

“Miss Greengrass has a kind heart, so I’m not at all surprised by that. It is a bit brutal, truthfully.” He nodded a bit. “Tea?”

“Black, please.”

“You got it.”

The two of them sat in a fairly awkward silence after that, with Remus carefully brewing them both a steaming cup of tea- with tea bags, because he could not stand loose leaf tea, while Harry just… Stared.

It was rather unsettling, truthfully. The boy’s green eyes seemed to stare through him, instead of at him, like he was trying to see something else, rather than the person who was actually in front of him.

He slid Harry’s tea cup over to him, picking up his own and taking a sip. The boy watched him for a moment longer, before he sipped his own tea, setting the cup down and letting out a sigh.

“...I have things I want to ask you.” He said quietly, and Remus nodded.

“I have things I want to ask you as well.”

That made Harry raise a brow, before he spoke again. “Okay… So, I ask a question, you ask a question? And we go back and forth?”

“That works. But, I say we reserve the right to veto a question if we genuinely do not want to answer it.”

“Fair enough. I’ll go first. How did you know James and Lily Potter?”

Right to the hard hitting questions, it seemed.

Remus chuckled a bit, the sound a bit sad. Most of his laughs were sad, truthfully, but hearing Harry refer to James and Lily as, well, James and Lily was a kind of hurt that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“...James was one of the first friends I had ever made at Hogwarts.” He explained softly. “He came right up to me on the platform and helped me get through, then had me sit with him on our very first train ride. I met Lily later that night, and while we didn’t always get along, she became my friend not long after. All three of us were in Gryffindor, you know?”

Harry made a bit of a face at the mention of Gryffindor, but didn’t say anything else to that.

“That tracks… Okay… Your turn, then.”

He paused for a moment, before he spoke again.

“Where did you grow up?”

“I, uh, grew up in London. On Crouch Street, coffee shop called The Crow’s Nest. With my Mum and Dad.”

And oh, how Remus’ chest tightened.

“Yeah..? Your Mum and Dad? Fiona and Gideon, right?”

Harry nodded again, wrapping his arms around himself. “Yeah… My Mum and Dad. Mum owned the shop, she inherited it from her Mum and Dad, but my Dad worked at the tattoo parlor down the road. He was an artist, and a piercer. He was the one who did my ears.”

“He did them well.” Remus chuckled. “I suppose it’s your turn, then.”

“...Did…” Harry hesitated for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek, like he was thinking hard about the question he wanted to ask. “...Did you know that I had been adopted? Because, you are my godfather, I was just curious to know how that works…”

“Truthfully, Harry? I had no idea.” He shook his head. “The last time I saw you until that day in Diagon Alley was your first birthday, and the last I heard about you was three years after you were sent to live with your Aunt Petunia, something about you being taken to the hospital?”

Harry frowned at that, and Remus could see the gears turning in his head. Just what they were turning towards, however, he had absolutely no idea.

“That… That tracks, then.” He nodded a bit. “I was taken by the NSPCC when I was four. I don’t remember much of it, but I remember meeting my social worker, Mrs. Davies…”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah… It’s a weird memory.”

“I can imagine… I… Why were you taken to the hospital?”

“Veto.” Harry replied immediately. “I don’t want to talk about it. Ask another question, please, sir.”

Remus sighed a bit, but nodded. He should have assumed that would be the case. Children who were abused, because Merlin only knows that physical abuse is one of the only damn things that can get a child taken from their parents, very rarely actually wanted to speak about it, especially not to adults they fully trusted yet.

Which, as much as he hated to admit it, Harry had no real reason to trust him.

He hoped that he’d be able to change that soon.

“Okay… Hm… Let me think…”

The two of them spoke for what felt like hours, having to refill their tea cups a few times as they chatted.

Harry asked him questions about himself, and his friends. Each time, he pointedly avoided mentioning Sirius in conversation, which seemed to irritate the boy a bit, like he genuinely wanted to know what the traitor had been like, what he had done to ruin their lives.

He didn’t want to place that burden on his godson’s shoulders.

In turn, he asked about Harry’s favorite classes, his favorite foods, his friends, and, most importantly?

He asked about Fiona, Gideon, and Prue.

And that had been the golden ticket.

Harry answered questions about them with a tired smile on his face, one that still showed how deeply he was grieving the loss of the only true family he had ever known, while trying to put on a brave face for his professor and friends.

An expression that Remus, himself, knew all too well.

And one that he didn’t like seeing on a face so young.

A face that had, obviously, experienced more pain than it should have.

He had just finished launching into another story about the utter chaos that he, James, and Peter had gotten into as kids, sending Harry into a fit of giggles as he described how Peter had gotten stuck by his belt loops on one of the school brooms during their first year flying class, sending him careening around the field like a madman while the rest of their class cackled at the absurdity of it all when he saw something… Odd.

The sleeve of Harry’s sweater had rolled up a bit, revealing thick, white bandages wrapped around his forearm.

Thick, white bandages that should have been taken off weeks ago, because even though his injury from Buckbeak the hippogriff had been nasty, it shouldn’t have taken so long to heal, especially not with Madam Pomfrey’s potions.

And in the back of his mind, the part of his brain that he absolutely refused to listen to unless completely necessary…

The Wolf was whimpering. Terror consuming its heart and mind.

There was something wrong. There was something so very, very wrong.

Remus hummed a bit, faking taking a sip of his tea, and instead, took a deep breath, the faint scent of blood carrying over on the air in the room.

Slightly stale blood, but not stale enough to be an injury older than a week.

“Harry… What are those bandages on your arm, from?” He asked softly, before he immediately regretted letting those words slip out of his mouth. The boy tensed up, his eyes going wide as he stared at him, looking like he was ready to bolt. “Wait-”

“It’s none of your damn business, Lupin.” Harry snapped suddenly, a flash of anger that seemed uncharacteristic coursing through him as he rose to his feet, clutching his arm to his chest. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. We’ll have to finish this conversation another day. Thank you for having me.”

Remus was about to protest, but the way he spoke… It was so strangely formal that it knocked him off his rhythm for a moment, and he was only able to regain his composure when Harry had already rushed out of the room without another word, the door shutting behind him and leaving him standing in his now empty office in utter confusion.

His instincts had been right, even if he desperately wished they hadn’t been.

Something was wrong, and Harry was defensive about what happened. A boy who had lived through horrific trauma, who was visibly affected by said trauma when he spoke of it, and who clammed up like that when someone noticed a strange injury?

The boy had hurt himself somehow. On purpose.

And Remus, who knew that there was nothing he, specifically, could do for his godson in that moment, decided to go to one of the only members of staff that Harry seemed to genuinely trust.

With his metaphorical tail between his legs, he pulled on his cloak and slipped out of his office, heading in the direction of the dungeons to speak to Severus, because Merlin knows that he seemed to be one of the few adults who actually knew how to help Harry.

And maybe, just maybe, he could learn a few tips along the way, because he needed them more than he wanted to admit.

Chapter Text

The halls of Hogwarts were blissfully, wonderfully empty as he ran. There was not a person in sight as his feet pounded against the marble ground, tears in his eyes as he just did whatever he could to escape.

Harry had almost gotten caught. Lupin had almost found out.

He’d almost been found out.

And now he needed to run. To get as far away from his godfather- his professor as he possibly could. Teachers were mandatory reporters, that was something he new for a fact, so he knew that if Lupin went to absolutely anyone with what he thought, Harry would be completely fucked.

He’d be completely, totally, fucked.

And so, he ran. He ran away.

Eventually, when he decided that he had gotten far enough, he ducked into an empty classroom, sucking in sharp breaths as he fought to inflate his lungs properly. He let out a few painful coughs, covering his mouth as he stumbled over to a desk, bracing himself against it and closing his eyes as he continued to fight back tears.

Everything had gone so wrong so quickly.

Why did he even try?

Lupin couldn’t just be his godfather. Not with his position as a professor. He had other responsibilities, ones that didn’t involve Harry, and he would only get in the way of some of them.

Hell, the way the man had been talking about Dumbledore said more than he thought it would.

Lupin almost worshiped the man, saw him as some sort of savior because the old bastard allowed him to attend Hogwarts despite his ‘condition’, and seemed to think he could do no wrong.

So how could Harry truly trust him?

And now, he was going to ruin everything.

Harry whimpered, slumping into the desk and pressing his head against the cold, dusty wood to try and calm himself down.

Defense teachers could never be trusted. That was what he’d learned the last few years.

And Lupin couldn’t be trusted either.

After a few minutes of trembling and fighting back the urge to cry, he lifted his head up again and grabbed out the map, activating it and looking around at the few students still out and about.

A part of him desperately wanted to go and find his friends, collapse into Theo’s arms, and just cry his heart out because of what happened.

But at the same time, he didn’t want to be around people. He didn’t want to talk to anyone.

He didn’t want to acknowledge what had happened.

He shook his head, focusing back on the map with a shaky breath.

Most everyone had gone into their common rooms for the night, including his friends, but the few stragglers were mostly the prefects, a few professors, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and…

Hermione? And Crookshanks?

He tilted his head a bit, staring at the dot with her name attached to it, seemingly stuck in the wall.

Then, it dawned on him.

One of the hidden alcoves.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek, grabbing his Time Turner from out of his shirt and looking back at the map, tucking it into his pocket so it would stay with him when he went back in time, and he twisted the hourglass twice.

Once the rushing sensation of being pulled back left him, he grabbed the map again, checking for Hermione, and smiling when he realized that she was in the exact same place.

And a nap sounded absolutely brilliant.

He slipped out of the classroom, looking around a few times to make sure he was alone, before he began heading up to the Muggle Studies tower. It wasn’t a long walk, thankfully, but he was even more exhausted by the time he reached a painting of a beautiful woman with ankle-length brown hair and a blue dress. She eyed him for a moment, before she spoke.

“What belongs to you, and yet everyone else uses it?” She asked, tilting her head.

Ah. A riddle to get into the alcove.

Harry paused, before his eyes lit up.

“Your name?” He offered, and the woman nodded, a small smile pulling at her lips as the painting swung open. He thanked her quietly, climbing up into the alcove and creeping further in, until his foot hit something soft and plush. Hesitantly, he formed a small light in his hand, illuminating the room.

It wasn’t very large at all, but the floor was covered with multiple plush mats, blankets, and a few pillows. Hermione, in her curly haired glory, was curled up in a small ball on top of these mats, happily snuggled up in a blanket with Crookshanks curled up against her, purring like a motorboat.

Harry smiled a bit, kneeling down and resting a hand on her arm.

“Hey… ‘mionie…” He murmured, watching as she slowly opened her eyes.

“Mm..?” She hummed, looking up at him. “Oh… Hi, Harry… What time is it?”

“I have no idea. Last time I checked, it was nearly eight, but I just came back two hours. Can I lay down with you?”

“Okay…” Hermione yawned. “Take off your shoes first…”

Harry nodded, carefully kicking off his shoes before he climbed into the sort of nest that his friend had made, quickly shuffling under the covers and smiling at her.

“Thank you.” He whispered, watching as she started to drift back to sleep immediately.

“No problem… Night, Harry…”

“Night, Hermione.”

He hesitated for a moment, reaching out and gently grabbing her hand, giving it a small squeeze before he closed his eyes as well, quickly falling asleep to the soft sounds of her breathing, and the low rumbling of Crookshanks’ purr.

—

Severus was truly starting to get sick of Lupin’s face. He had to see him first thing in the morning for breakfast, at noon for lunch, and in the evenings for dinner, and that doesn’t even count the times he has to cross paths with the wolf just during their day to day activities.

And now, here he was, standing in his office and looking like he was somewhere between a panic attack and a blind rage.

He paused for a moment, mentally checking what phase of the moon they were at, and only relaxing the slightest bit when he remembered that the moon was at half tonight, which meant that Lupin wasn’t an immediate danger.

“...What can I do for you, Lupin?” He drawled, walking the rest of the way into his office, pointedly not looking at the other man.

“We need to talk, Severus.”

“I assumed so, considering the fact that you have barged into my office, unannounced and uninvited, and are standing in the middle of it like you want to rip my cabinets off the wall.”

“Can you cut the shit?”

Severus paused at that, raising a brow as he looked at the other professor, who continued to speak.

“I know you hate me, and I get it, dammit. You have every fucking reason to hate me. But for once in our lives can we give up on the utter bullshit that was our childhood feud because right now, we’re both grown men, and we can handle ourselves with more fucking class than we did as teenagers because we are grown men in charge of teenagers?”

“...You nearly murdered me, Lupin.”

“I know that! I know-” He growled a bit, running a hand through his hair as he stood up straighter, taking a few deep breaths and trying to calm himself. “I know, that I nearly killed you. I wasn’t in control. I wasn’t in my right mind. And before you say it, I know we should have taken what Sirius did as a sign, I know. Just… Please, let me tell you what I need to tell you, because I really doubt that there’s anyone else in this school that can help him…”

That piqued his interest, and Severus nodded a bit, sitting down in his office chair and gesturing to the chairs on the other side of his desk, which Lupin immediately sat in.

As much as he liked to keep his persona of being an unsympathetic, unfeeling man when he was around the other professors, and even a majority of the students, knowing that there really was a student in danger… That was about the only thing that would snap him out of that.

“Who needs help, Lupin?” He asked quietly.

“Harry.”

“...What’s happened..?”

“He’s… I… I don’t know, if it was just a fluke, or if he did it on purpose, but… But you remember when he got the hippogriff injury?”

“Of course I do.”

“He’s still bandaged from it.”

That didn’t make a lick of sense. Harry’s arm should have healed weeks ago now. Nothing about that injury should have made it difficult to heal.

“And you’re sure it’s the same arm?” Severus asked quietly. “The already injured one?”

“Yes.” Lupin nodded, his face twisted up in genuine pain. “He’s… Severus, I think he cut himself. I didn’t get a proper scent of the blood, but… But it didn’t smell like magic, or a beast. It just smelled like blood and metal.”

Damn it. Damn it.

“I’ll talk to him. See what’s going on. Do you know where he is?”

“No. He stormed out of my office almost immediately after I mentioned his bandaged arm, and I immediately came here.”

Severus nodded. At the very least, he knew all of the boy’s regular haunts. He was either down at the unicorn’s paddock, up in the Astronomy Tower, or somewhere nearby Theodore Nott.

The two rarely went anywhere without the other, so it was a reasonable assumption that if he could find Theodore, he would find Harry.

“I’ll go and look for him.” He nodded firmly, standing up. “Give him space, Lupin. He doesn’t trust easily.”

“No Slytherin ever does.” Lupin muttered, but nodded a bit, standing as well and following Severus out when he left his office.

The first thing he did was check the common room, frowning a bit when he realized that almost all of his students were already there, excluding Harry and his prefects.

And, well, he had two extras in the common room, but he almost always forgot they weren’t actually Slytherins with how often they were there.

“Hello, Professor Snape.” Lovegood said, looking up from her game of cards, which she seemed to be winning, to wave at him. He nodded in acknowledgement.

“Miss Lovegood. You wouldn’t have happened to see where Mr. Hartford has disappeared to, would you?”

She paused for a moment, tilting her head to the side for a moment before she frowned.

“He doesn’t want to be found right now, Professor. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you where he is, but he is perfectly fine, if a bit sad..”

“Alright, Miss Lovegood. Thank you for trying.”

“Professor!” Nott called, catching his attention before he could leave. He was obviously trying to stay calm, but the anxiety on his face due to his friend being missing was as clear as day. “Could you tell Harry that we have food for him when you find him?”

“I will, Mr. Nott. Thank you for taking care of your classmate.”

Lupin spluttered a bit as Severus stepped back out of the common room.

“She knows where he is, but she won’t tell you? Why didn’t you push her for information? What if he’s somewhere, ripping himself to shreds?” The wolf hissed, causing him to glare at the other man.

“Miss Lovegood is a seer. More than that, she is incredibly loyal to Harry. The fact that she told us any of that is a good sign.” He said simply. “It means that he’s alright, because if he wasn’t, she would have been the first to say something.”

“Severus-”

“Lupin.” Severus snapped. “I understand your concern, but I trust Miss Lovegood. If Harry was in danger, not only would she have already come to get me, but do you really think his friends would not have already mobilized themselves and located him? Every time Harry has disappeared, there is a mass of pre-teens who’ve immediately gone looking for him. He never stays missing for very long.”

Lupin, thankfully, had the decency to look like he’d been properly scolded at that, like he knew the other professor was correct.

And, he was.

Harry never stayed missing for long, and if he was in any real danger, someone would have come to get him.

Severus rubbed his face, taking a deep breath and moving to speak again, before he was startled by the feeling of something rubbing up against his leg. When his gaze snapped down, he was met with the sight of the large, orange beast that Miss Granger lovingly referred to as Crookshanks, or, as Mr. Weasley referred to him as, ‘that bastard of a cat’.

Crookshanks looked up at him, orange eyes meeting his own as he let out a scratchy little ‘mah’ sound, his tail flicking before he started to walk again.

Severus and Lupin both watched the cat for a moment, before he stopped, turned to look at them, and made another sound.

“...I think it wants us to follow it.” Lupin said quietly.

“His name is Crookshanks.” Severus sighed. “And I think you’re correct.”

He started after the cat, watching as the creature seemed to light up at its request being acknowledged, leading the two men up flights of stairs and through different corridors of the castle, occasionally checking to see if they were still following him as he walked.

Eventually, Crookshanks led them to a portrait of a woman, who looked at them in confusion.

“...Four visitors in a day. That’s rather unusual.” She hummed. “What can I do for you, Professors?”

“This cat led us here.” Lupin said, pointing down at Crookshanks, who was sitting politely at Severus’ feet, looking up at the portrait.

“Oh! Hello, Crookshanks.” She smiled. “Have you come to wake up your human?”

Crookshanks meowed, and the portrait opened a bit, allowing him to hop up into… Whatever was behind it. Severus went to catch the door, but missed just barely.

“Ah-ah. Nope.” The woman shook her head. “Until those two decide to exit, I won’t let you in. I promised I would give Hermione her privacy unless her friend Harry came by.”

Severus paused for a moment, then nodded. That, made sense, at least.

He stepped back, leaning against the stair railing and watching the portrait. Lupin was far less relaxed about the situation, starting to pace once again, before the portrait opened once more.

Hermione climbed out first, still obviously half asleep and holding her cat to her chest, but Harry was not far behind, stumbling out of the entrance and bracing himself against the wall. He looked like he’d just woken up from a deep, deep sleep, which confused him for a moment as he tried to figure out how on earth the boy would have gone out that hard after only a few minutes.

Then, it dawned on him.

The fucking Time Turner.

He was so upset by what happened with Lupin, that he traveled back in time to get away from his problems.

It was completely mad.

“...Mr. Hartford. Miss Granger.” Severus drawled, causing them both to snap fully awake and look at him in abject terror. “What were you two doing in there?”

“Uh… Sleeping?” Harry offered, while Hermione turned to face away from the two men, what little they could see of her face was a brilliant scarlet as she tried to hide her embarrassment. “We use some of the hidden alcoves to take naps in between classes so we aren’t too tired.”

Lupin sucked in a sharp breath. “Harry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

But, the boy ignored him. Obviously, he wasn’t feeling up to talking to the Defense professor at the moment. His gaze stayed firmly on Severus, although the brief flash of pain in his eyes told him all that he needed to know.

“...Lupin. Please escort Miss Granger back to Gryffindor Tower.” He said after a moment, looking at his fellow professor. “I need to speak with Mr. Hartford.”

“...Right. Come with me, Miss Granger.”

“Yes, sir.” She nodded a bit, before looking at Harry with a nervous smile. “Goodnight, Harry.”

“Goodnight, ‘Mionie. Thanks for letting me crash your nap.” Harry smiled a bit, waving as they walked away. Once the two Gryffindors were out of earshot, he turned back to Severus. “He told you. Didn’t he?”

“...He told me that he had a hunch that you may have done something to yourself, yes.”

“And do you believe him?”

“I believe that you have experienced a lot of trauma over the last year, and have not been provided with the most appropriate outlets to deal with everything that happened, despite the best efforts of the people who love you. And because of that, you found an outlet in pain.”

“...Fair enough.”

“Will you let me see your arms?” He asked gently, waiting for Harry to respond. The visible discomfort on the boy’s face told him the last of what he needed to know, and he let out a soft sigh. “Harry… You can either show them to me, and I can heal them for you and simply write a letter to Narcissa, or you can show them to Madam Pomfrey, who will make a massive deal out of it and the entire school will end up knowing about it by tomorrow morning.”

Severus watched Harry huff, before he nodded.

“Can we go to your office, then..?”

“Of course. We can talk about what happened with Professor Lupin while I heal your arm, if you’d like.”

“...Okay.”

And he was so, so thankful that Harry wasn’t an unreasonable teenager, because that conversation could have gone so much worse than it did.

—

Severus had seen his students self harm before. He had seen his students cut themselves, starve themselves, hit and burn themselves. Hell, his very first year of teaching, he’d needed to talk one of his first years out of suicide.

But he’d always been able to keep some sort of emotional distance from it. Get invested in his students to know that he cares, that he didn’t want them to be in pain, that he wanted to help them.

But stay distant enough that his chest didn’t ache if he saw them hurting, if he saw fresh burns, or realized that they were drinking more alcohol than a sixteen year old should.

That was his biggest rule. Don’t get too attached. Never get too attached.

But he’d broken it.

Because staring down at the wounds on Harry’s arms, the scabbing, healing wounds that pulled uncomfortably at his skin… It hurt. It hurt like hell.

And the visible shame on the boy’s face as Severus gently dropped dittany on the wounds ached just as badly.

“It’s alright…” He said softly. “Does it hurt at all..?”

“No, sir.” Harry replied quietly, sucking in a small breath as the cuts began to pull themselves back together, leaving thin, pale scars all up and down his arms that cut across the ones that flowed along his veins.

“That never feels very good.” Severus sighed, watching them to make sure they were properly healed. Once they were, he grabbed a damp cloth to gently wipe away some of the blood and scabs from his student’s arm. Then, once it was wiped clean, he lightly rubbed some salve into the fresh scars. “Better?”

“Yes, sir… Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. Have you eaten?”

“Theo has some food for me.”

“Right, right…” He nodded, rubbing his face. “...Harry, I know that you won’t like this, but I need to write to your guardians. Specifically, I must write to Narcissa.”

Harry hissed a bit, hanging his head. “She’s going to be angry, isn’t she..?”

“No, not at all. If anything, you may just end up seeing her on your visit to Hogsmeade in two weeks. She’ll be concerned, and worried for you, and that will be because she loves you dearly, Harry.”

He nodded, absently scratching at his freshly healed arm. Likely a new habit, to go with the self harm.

“Are you…” The boy hesitated. “Are you going to tell anyone else?”

“No.” Severus shook his head. “I won’t, as long as you agree to come and speak with me whenever you’re feeling the urge to do this again.”

“That’s a lot harder than it sounds, you know.”

“I know, Harry, but… Harming yourself, as good as it feels in the moment… It just causes more pain in the long run.”

Harry nodded a bit, still refusing to make eye contact with his professor. That little bit of indignation was a good sign, at least. He hadn’t fully lost himself to his grief yet.

As much as that attitude would have normally infuriated him if it came from any other student, he was just relieved to see it.

“Alright… Like I said, I will be writing to Narcissa tonight.” Severus nodded, already knowing that the fact that Harry had allowed him to heal his wounds was asking a lot of the boy. “If you can bring yourself to do so, my door is always open for you to come and speak with me. If you don’t want to talk, you can always write a letter and leave it for me to read as well, as long as you can find a way to express what you’re feeling.”

“Yes, Professor.” He nodded a bit. “Can I go, please?”

“Of course. Go and eat your dinner, and try to rest. I’ll see you in Potions first thing.”

Harry nodded, offering him a weak smile as he stood up, quickly leaving his office and shutting the door behind him. Once the boy was gone, Severus slumped in his chair, running a hand through his hair.

Fuck.

Fucking hell.

That was more than he was expecting.

After a few minutes of processing what he had seen, of what he had just had to do to help one of his students, he sat up again, grabbing his wand and flicking it to summon a piece of parchment and a quill, knowing that he needed to draft that letter to Narcissa as soon as possible.

He just hoped he was correct as to how she would take the information.

—

Dearest Narcissa,

Unfortunately, I am not writing to you with good news this evening.

About one hour ago, I was alerted by one of my fellow Professors to a situation that called for my immediate concern involving Harry.

As it turns out, his concern was not unfounded.

Harry has been self harming. The cuts did not seem magical in nature, but I’m not sure what instrument he is using to cause them.

I was able to heal the cuts on Harry’s right forearm, but, due to the stress that he’s under, I don’t want to risk him causing more harm to himself.

As one of his guardians, and the one closest to the school at the current moment, I believe you sitting down with him will be more beneficial than myself. He holds a deep respect and care for you, Narcissa, even a fool would be able to see that, and he would take your thoughts far more seriously than any member of staff here at Hogwarts, even myself.

While I cannot tell you what, exactly, I think you should do in this situation, as I am not a parent myself, I believe that coming to see him during the Hogsmeade visit on Halloween weekend would be good for the both of you.

Draco and Theodore, to my knowledge, don’t know what happened, but I swore to Harry that I would not tell anyone else. His trust in the faculty here at Hogwarts is limited at best, and I refuse to break what trust he has in me. If he chooses to tell them, and the rest of his friends, he can, but I will do nothing to jeopardize that.

I don’t know if he has reached the point of considering suicide, but I have no way of truly knowing.

Please, try to speak with him when you get the chance.

Yours,

Severus

Chapter Text

“Cissa… Did you sleep at all last night?” Lucius asked quietly as he settled down on the sofa next to Narcissa, his hand coming up to gently cup her face, turning her towards him so he could look at her properly.

She knew what she looked like. She knew she had horrible bags under her eyes, and that she looked as though she were ill.

“...I couldn’t relax long enough.” She admitted quietly. “And you were exhausted, so I came down here to read.”

“My love…”

“I know, I know… I’ll sleep when I return from Hogsmeade.”

“You’re going to wear yourself down, my darling.” Lucius chided gently. “I can go and visit the boys today. You should stay here and rest.”

Narcissa shook her head, giving her husband a tired smile. “It has to be me, love. Harry trusts and adores you, you know that, but… But he spills his heart out to me when he feels safe. That’s all he did when he was in the hospital, after all.”

“I know, but… Dress warmly, and make sure you eat a nice meal. Then as soon as the boys decide to run off and have fun, you come right back home, and I will drop everything so I can hold you while you sleep. Does that sound alright?”

“It sounds lovely, darling… I’ll hold you to that.”

“You don’t need to. You will always take precedence.”

Narcissa hummed a bit, leaning in and kissing him gently. He returned the gesture, his hand caressing her cheek before he pulled away, pressing their foreheads together.

“I’ll leave you to get ready. I know you like your privacy in the mornings… I’ll be in my office if you need me, my love.” Lucius said softly, kissing her nose for good measure before he stood up, smiling at her.

She smiled back, watching as he left the room, before she let out a shaky sigh.

Since the night that Severus had sent that letter, it had felt like a weight had settled on her chest and just wouldn’t let up. It was every parent’s worst fear, knowing their child was in pain, and suffering, and not being able to help.

Harry may not be her son, but he was one of her boys, and it broke her heart knowing that he felt the need to punish himself in such a way.

She sat up a bit, taking a slow, deep breath to steady her nerves.

Her feelings didn’t matter in that moment. What mattered was making sure that Harry felt seen, and heard, and safe enough that he could explain how he felt to her without fear of being punished further.

And so, Narcissa stood, heading up to her and Lucius’ bedroom, and got ready for the day, quietly praying to her ancestors for the strength to help him, and hopefully, keep the rest of her boys from falling down the same path.

That was all she could do, at the moment.

—

“It’s too fucking cold outside right now.” Harry grit out through his teeth as he stood pressed up against the walls of Hogwarts, willing the warm magic of the school to wrap around his body and block out the cold wind that surrounded him. “I’m going to freeze to death.”

Daphne looked at him incredulously, before she turned back to the piece of parchment in her hands.

“It’s not that cold, Harry.” She shook her head. “It’s really not that bad.”

“It is cold, and wet, and I do not like being cold and wet.”

“It’s sprinkling. You’ll survive.”

He huffed at her, although there was no bite to the sound. She had a point, like she always did, but that didn’t mean that he wasn’t grumpy about the cold rain.

It was Halloween, or Samhain as everyone in Slytherin called it, and it was also the very first Hogsmeade weekend of the year, something that everyone was looking forward to.

Professor Snape had taken all of their permission slips that morning, and now, they were just congregating outside, waiting for Filch to open up the front gates so they could leave.

Luna and Astoria had both requested a few things from the village, as they weren’t old enough to go yet, which is what Daphne was currently going over on the list she’d written out, and trying to figure out exactly what some of the things were.

“There’s no way in hell that says jelly slugs.” Blaise sighed, tilting his head as he looked at the list over Daphne’s shoulder. “And blood pops? Why would Tori want a blood pop?”

“Curiosity’s sake?” Theo offered, slinking up to Harry’s side and sliding an arm around his shoulder. The other boy sighed in relief, snuggling up against his warmth and letting out a content sigh.

He was the world's best space heater.

“Filch is on his way.” Neville called over to them, trotting back over so he could rejoin the group. One of the unintended plus sides of his newfound height was being able to just, see over everyone else’s heads. At that news, Harry and Theo rose up off of the castle wall, walking over to the gate with the rest of the group, yet not straying from one another’s sides for even a moment.

Filch limped his way over to the gate, grumbling madly as he unlocked it and shoved it open. Then, he pulled a clipboard out from under his arm, and started checking off names after looking at their faces, waving them through one by one.

Once their group was through, they set off down the path to Hogsmeade, being lightly pelted by freezing rain the entire way.

The path was familiar to Harry, considering the fact that he’d already walked it in reverse a couple of times, but it was still a nice experience to get to walk it with his friends, and with the lingering excitement of the outing still in the air.

Daphne and Blaise, who had given up on trying to decipher every part of the list, were excitedly chattering on to Draco about where they would go first, while Neville and Theo were talking about some of the sights in the area.

And Harry felt… Harry felt content. That was the only way to describe it.

He wasn’t consumed by joy, because he very rarely was nowadays, but he didn’t feel terrible either, because he was safe with his friends.

Granted, he was also feeling a bit off because he knew that at some point, Narcissa would find him and they would have to go and have a talk about what he had done, which he was dreading.

Logically, he knew she wouldn’t be angry with him. Not truly angry.

Disappointed and worried? Absolutely. She would be beside herself, and that was so much worse than her being angry.

He didn’t want to upset her. He cared too much about her to do something like that… But, maybe that would be good enough motivation to stop him from hurting himself further.

At least, he hoped it would, because the genuine distress he had seen in Professor Snape’s eyes at what he’d done had made him regret it. If a man as cold and emotionless as Snape seemed startled by it, then that was a bad, bad sign.

Harry sighed, resting his head on Theo’s shoulder, causing the boy to turn and look at him.

“Alright, Harry?”

“Alright, Theo.”

“Mhm… Where do you wanna go first?”

“Somewhere warm. I’m freezing my arse off.”

“Three Broomsticks?” Draco offered. “We can get something to eat, then go and explore a bit.”

“Sounds good to me. Any objections?” Daphne asked, and when no one said otherwise, she nodded. “Three Broomsticks it is!”

Harry chuckled, shaking his head with a smile as he looked up at Theo, who smiled right back.

By the time they made it to Hogsmeade, and The Three Broomsticks, the rain had gotten even harder, soaking them all to the bone. Blaise shook out his hair with a soft laugh, running his hand through it before he lifted his head and lit up.

“Lady Malfoy? What are you doing here?” He asked, tilting his head, and Harry froze.

He wasn't expecting their conversation to happen so early.

Draco didn’t even wait for a greeting, launching himself forward and into his mother’s arms, being quickly wrapped up in a tight hug.

“Hello, my loves… I thought I would stop by to see you.” Narcissa chuckled a bit, kissing her son’s forehead and nuzzling the top of his head. Once Draco pulled away, everyone else was wrapped up in a tight hug, with Harry going in last.

When she gently squeezed him, and kissed the top of his head, she spoke quietly before letting him go.

“Don't worry, love. I won't keep you long.”

And he nodded, pulling away and smiling at her.

“Yeah, okay. Uh…” Harry paused, turning to look at his friends. “You guys go ahead and order some food. I’ll meet you at whatever table you decide to pick.”

Blaise frowned a bit. “Uh… Alright, mate. What do you want?”

“Fish n chips, if you would?”

“Of course.”

After a few more curious glances, they all made their way up to the counter to speak to Rosmerta, while Harry followed Narcissa over to one of the booths, which had a glass of red wine and a mug of butterbeer, and sat across from her. She offered him a small smile, and his glass, before speaking.

“...Professor Snape wrote to me.”

“I know.” He nodded. “He told me he would. I was just… I was scared you would be angry with me for it.”

“Oh, darling… I could never be angry with you for being in pain.”

Harry smiled sadly, shrugging as he ran his fingers over his still itching arm before taking a drink. He didn’t know if the itchiness was from the wounds being freshly healed, or if it was just the urge to cut again, clawing at his skin from the inside.

“I think I always knew that, subconsciously, but…” He trailed off, clutching his butterbeer tightly. “I dunno. Things like this… I heard that people don’t always react well to it. There’s such… Such a… What’s the word..?”

“A stigma.” Narcissa agreed softly. “On mental health, and its associated subjects.”

“Exactly. And… I dunno, I don’t know much about how Wixen react to it, but for muggles… Doing this is… It’s not exactly looked on with much sympathy or acceptance, if that makes sense.”

“I can’t speak for most others, but… Us Blacks have a history of these sorts of behaviors.” She sighed a bit, sipping her wine thoughtfully. “I am the first to admit that my vice is wine. When I fall too far into my own thoughts, and can’t get to sleep, I’ll drink more than I should. I held back when you boys were home, because I was afraid of frightening or worrying you, but… That is the truth.”

Harry frowned at that, looking up at her with pinched eyebrows. “I had no idea…”

“I try to keep it away from you all.” She smiled a bit. “I will admit. I’ve been better, having all of you around. Lucius helps, but hearing you, Draco, and Theo running around in the upper floors of the manor… It soothed me.”

“Being around my friends keeps… Keeps the thoughts away.” He nodded. “I don’t hear them when I’m with them. It always gets me when I’m by myself, late at night. It’s… Usually when I go and hide in the bathroom, so I don’t wake anyone up?”

“And your reflection in the mirror speaks to you.”

“You..?”

“I…” Narcissa hesitated, sitting up a bit and setting her wine to the side. “I never personally experienced the reflection, myself, but… Regulus did. He would always come and sleep up in my dormitory with me afterwards as well, because they frightened him so much.”

Harry shuddered, shaking his head. “I know how it feels. It’s horrifying.”

She nodded, reaching across the table and gently grabbing his hand, giving it a squeeze. He offered her a weak smile, squeezing back as his gaze flickered over to his friends, who were helping Rosmerta carry their plates and drinks over to a booth on the opposite side of the pub, likely to give Harry and Narcissa the most privacy possible.

She seemed to notice this as well, smiling softly at him before she reached into her pocket and grabbed her wand.

“Would you mind showing me your arm, love?”

“Uh… Okay?”

Harry rolled up the sleeve on his right arm, the thin scars from his pocket knife almost blending in with the scars that ran up and down his veins. Narcissa smiled a bit, before she gently pressed the tip of her wand against his arm, murmuring a spell that Harry couldn't quite hear.

And then, he watched in utter amazement as inky butterflies fluttered out of her wand and onto his arm, making his hair stand on end as they curled around the skin before sinking in, almost perfectly hiding his scars from view. Their wings fluttered every once in a while, tickling just a bit every time they did.

“It isn't a permanent fix.” Narcissa explained softly. “But… A reminder that there are good things in the world. That when you're alone, in the darkest parts of your mind… You're still loved. It’ll wear off in a day or two, but… You can always ask your friends to draw on you instead, if you want.”

He blinked a few times, trying to fight back the tears that blurred his vision and threatened to spill down his cheeks.

“...Thank you. I’ll… I'll do that…”

“Of course, love… Now, are you ready to go and sit with your friends and have what looks to be a delicious lunch?”

“Yeah, I am.” Harry chuckled, hesitantly pulling his arm away and fixing his sleeve. “Thank you, Narcissa.”

“Of course, Harry.” She smiled at him. “Oh, and be on the lookout for a parcel from Lucius and I. We finally found some tomes in the library that might help explain some things about the Chamber.”

He lit up a bit at that. While they hadn't gone too in depth about what, exactly, had happened in the Chamber of Secrets last year, mostly because Harry himself didn't fully explain what had happened, he and Narcissa had still spoken a lot about it.

And, as her personal project for the year, she’d gone right into researching and finding any information she could on familiar bonds, the Chamber itself, and Salazar Slytherin.

He tried not to think about the foreign memories that swirled inside his head at times, the spells that lingered at the tip of his tongue. Not unless he desperately had to.

But, hopefully, Narcissa and Lord Malfoy had found some answers.

“Thank you. Genuinely, I…”

“It's nothing, love. Now. Let's go over and bother your friends a bit, hm? I want to embarrass Draco.”

And Harry snorted, shaking his head a bit as he stood up, grabbed his mug of butterbeer, and headed back over to his friends, Narcissa at his heels, both of them with bright smiles that completely hid the serious conversation the two of them had just had.

Today was supposed to be fun, after all. There was no use in bumming themselves out first thing.

—

After a, frankly, delicious meal, and a bit more lighthearted chatter from Narcissa, she left the group with a bit of extra pocket money to go shopping with before apparating away.

And, strangely enough, she’d whispered something to Daphne before she left too, causing the girl to light up like a Christmas tree and disappear into one of the shops, coming back out with a bag full of… Something.

They visited Honeydukes after, with everyone coming back out with enough sweets to make any sane person ill, before popping into Zonko’s so they could restock on some prank items.

Mostly dungbombs and the oddly stretchy bubblegum that Daphne had given Peeves to assault Lupin’s classroom with.

As they walked, however, Neville paused, looking over at the Ollivanders near the edge of the village with an odd expression.

“Nev? You okay?” Blaise asked softly.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m okay…” He nodded. “I was just… Wondering if we could stop in there for a moment? I wanted… I wanted to see if he could take a look at my wand.”

“Yeah, mate. Of course.” Draco nodded with a frown. “Is everything okay with it?”

“Yeah, I mean… Pretty sure it works fine. I just want to make sure that there isn’t anything wrong with it. Gran would be upset if I damaged Dad’s wand at all.”

“Wait, you’re using your Dad’s wand?” Theo asked. “...Why?”

“Oh, because… Ah…” Neville hesitated, heat rising on his cheeks, and Harry immediately knew why. All those months ago, when they were cleaning out The Crow’s Nest, they’d gotten to talking. Just… Talking.

And a lot of things had been uncovered by that conversation. Things about Neville’s home life, and how his Gran and Great Uncle didn’t think he was much of a wizard.

And, knowing how said Uncle held Neville out a window by his goddamned ankles, he wasn’t at all surprised.

Magic couldn’t function properly when the wix was under duress, and from how he’d described his extended family, that was exactly the kind of life his friend had been living since his parents were tortured.

“Honestly, I think it’s a good idea.” Harry quickly said, pulling his wand out of its holster and twirling it in his hands. “I should probably pick up a wand polishing kit while I’m there, honestly. This thing gets scuffed up from how much I just kinda, throw it around.”

“...I completely forgot they make wand polishing kits.” Daphne hummed, nodding a bit. “Yeah, I think it’d be a good idea to stop by.”

Neville looked at him gratefully, obviously not ready to explain exactly why he didn’t have his own wand. Harry just shook his head with a smile, tucking his own wand back into its holster as they headed off towards Ollivander’s.

The shop, much like the one in Diagon Alley, immediately made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up from just the sheer magic within, although it was significantly cleaner and more organized than the one there.

A short, stocky woman with long, white hair looked up when the bell above the door jingled, looking genuinely surprised at the gaggle of students who had just entered the shop.

“Oh! Welcome, welcome to Ollivander’s!” She laughed, rushing out from behind the counter to greet them. “What can I do for you all today?”

Harry watched with a slight frown as Neville immediately clammed up, his wand in his hand as he tried to force the words out. He pulled away from Theo, stepping up next to the woman and whispering.

“My friend, Neville, has been using his father’s wand since we started at Hogwarts… It’s been giving him some trouble recently, and he was hoping you could look at it. If possible, I think helping him find a new wand would be best.”

The woman nodded a bit, and smiled at them.

“Neville, is it?” She asked him softly, and Nev nodded. “Come with me, love, and we’ll see what we can do about that wand of yours.”

Neville sighed in relief, giving Harry another grateful smile before he followed the woman over to the counter. Once the two of them were engrossed in conversation, the rest of the group began looking at the holsters, polishing kits, and handles.

Mostly out of curiosity, although Harry did grab himself a bottle of polish.

He smiled a bit, closing his eyes as he felt a few odd rushes of magic behind him. None of them felt… None of them felt quite right, not yet, but they were getting closer.

And then, like lightning had shot directly into his spine, he sucked in a sharp breath and whipped his head around, watching as Neville's wand, his new wand, swirled with a brilliant golden light.

His friend’s eyes were wide and filled with tears, like he genuinely hadn't expected it to work, but he also had a smile of pure excitement on his face.

“Ohh!! Absolutely beautiful!” The woman cried, clapping with a massive smile on her face. “That's the one, Neville dear! Thirteen inches, Cherry wood, with a Unicorn hair core. Absolutely beautiful!”

“Y-yeah…” Neville said softly. “It really is…”

Harry grinned, grabbing another bottle of wand polish and walking up to the desk, sliding enough Galleons to cover the cost of everything across the counter to the woman before anyone could even protest.

“Happy Samhain, Nev.” He said softly. “I hope your new wand works better than your Dad’s.”

Neville laughed a bit, shaking the magic off of his wand before he wrapped Harry up in a tight, almost suffocating hug, which was easily returned.

“Thank you, Harry… It… It feels so much more natural than Dad’s…”

“Your magic is happier.” He murmured into his friend's shoulder. “It's not being forced through a conduit not built for it-”

Before he could say more, however, the rest of their friends had wrapped themselves around them, laughing and smiling.

They may not have known exactly what had happened, or why Neville was using his dad's wand, but they knew that getting his own wand meant the world to him.

From somewhere in the hug pile they were in, Daphne spoke up.

“As much as I love this, I feel like I’m being suffocated.” She chuckled. “And, I think we should start heading back up to the castle. I have a gift for you guys that we can only do once the sun goes down, but I need time to set it up.”

With a laugh, Draco freed her from the hug, and they all said their goodbyes to the Ollivander’s witch as they headed back out into the cold rain.

“So, what's this gift of yours, Daph?” Blaise asked curiously as they started to walk up the path to the castle.

“Something that is going to need a couple hours to set up.” She hummed. “I need somewhere private to do it, too…”

“You can borrow the map and cloak again, if you’d like.” Harry hummed. “That way you can sneak about.”

“Oh! Perfect. I might have Luna come and help me, too.”

He chuckled a bit at that. Daphne and Luna were, without a doubt, partners in crime.

And Harry was just grateful that the sheer power the two of them had together had never been turned against him, because with Lue’s abilities, and Daph’s quick thinking, anyone who got on their bad sides had another thing coming.

Lupin was, honestly lucky that Lue hadn't gotten involved in the prank against him, otherwise it probably would have been much worse than just a glitter bomb.

She probably would have infected his classroom with Wackspurts, and while Harry had no idea what exactly those did, he knew they were bad news.

“So, here's the game plan.” Daphne said, pulling him out of his thoughts and back to the situation at hand. “Once we get back to the castle, I’m going to go and find somewhere hidden. Then, once everything is set up, I’ll come get you guys. Does that work?”

“Aye, Captain.” Theo nodded, giving the girl a mock salute.

She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Eh, Captain works. I’ll take it. But, don't go down to the feast, yeah? Just, stay in the dorms until I come and get you.”

And after another chorus of agreements, the plan was set, and Harry… Harry couldn't hide the excitement he felt at whatever his friend was planning.

Especially if it got him out of the Halloween Feast, because nothing good ever came from the Halloween Feast.

—

“It’s time.” Luna said ominously from the doorway, startling Blaise so badly that the boy nearly fell out of his chair. “...Are you okay?”

“Yep, all good, Lue.”

Harry chuckled a bit, shaking his head affectionately as Luna removed the invisibility cloak from her head, a bright smile on her face. It had obviously not been her intention to spook their friend, but, she still found a bit of delight in it nonetheless.

“Where are we going?” Draco asked curiously, pulling a thick sweater over his head as he walked over, the rest of them following suit.

“Somewhere very special. Hogwarts must be feeling festive today, if it decided to open up The Room for us.”

“The Room?” Theo tilted his head.

“The Room we Required.”

“Ohhh… I have no idea what you’re talking about, Lue. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” She chuckled. “Just trust me.”

And with that, she nodded at Harry, before disappearing back under the invisibility cloak, giving him time to tap each of their friends, and himself, on the forehead, disillusioning them so they could freely walk through the castle.

They walked as quietly as they could, with Harry leading them forward, as he was the only one who knew where Luna was. Underneath the cloak, her magic was muffled somehow, but it was still strong enough that he knew exactly where she was.

Eventually, they made their way up to the seventh floor corridor, where across from a large tapestry of a man apparently trying to teach trolls how to dance ballet, there was a massive door that none of them had seen before.

Harry sucked in a breath when he saw it, the rush of magic that passed through him making his knees buckle.

This room was like the Chamber of Secrets. Ancient, dark, and filled with magic that he knew could very, very easily be turned towards something even darker if ever necessary.

“...Holy shit.” Neville whispered. “Luna, is this..?”

“The Room of Requirement.” She smiled, taking off the cloak and handing it to Harry, who carefully stuffed it into his bag. “Which is going to let us do a Samhain Ritual, since Professor Dumbledore doesn’t really approve of them…”

“If Dumbledore doesn’t approve, then I’m in.” Harry said quickly, stepping forward and pushing the door open, walking into the room without a second thought.

He felt his friends enter behind him, but he was still stuck staring in utter amazement at the way the room looked, and at Daphne, who was standing in the center of it with a massive grin on her face.

Silver, bronze, and black silks hung from the ceilings, shimmering as the candles flickered. In the center of the room was a large chalk spell circle with candles placed at each of the points on the star, and the room had the distinct scent of Frankincense.

“Take off your shoes.” Daphne hummed as she used her wand to light one final candle, setting it in the exact center of the circle. “It makes rituals easier.”

“Alright…” Blaise nodded a bit, peeling off his shoes and setting them to the side, the rest of the group following suit. They made their way over to the spell circle, avoiding the candles and silks as best as they could. One by one, Luna directed them to stand in specific places, with Harry at what he could only assume was the head of the circle before she took her place on Blaise’s left.

“So, what do we do, o’ Ritual Master?” Harry asked, looking over at Daph as he grabbed his pocket knife out. She nodded approvingly, a smile on her face.

“Just like when we bonded as a coven…” She began. “Cut your hand, and let the blood mix with the candle wax. As you bleed, repeat after me, the chant will help the spirits find us, and guide us to what we need.”

“Infinita Aeterna, Virtutes Noctis. Infinita Aeterna, Virtutes Diei. Sempiterna Aeterna, Per Duscam Et Auroram.”

Harry listened to her as she repeated the chant a few times, before he slowly nodded, looking at his knife for a moment before looking at his hand, beginning to chant as well.

He didn't know if this counted as something that Professor Snape and Narcissa would be concerned about, but… He wanted to do this. He wanted to try.

So, he dragged the blade across the palm of his hand, sliding open the skin and letting his blood fall onto the candle before he passed the knife to Theo on his right.

Just like they did all those months ago, they each cut their hands, dripping blood onto the candle, and continuing the chant, adding their voices to the strange song one by one.

The longer it went on, the… Dizzier that Harry became, his eyes blinking slowly as the calming scent of Frankincense filled his lungs, and a strange warmth wrapped around him, like a familiar set of arms pulling him into a tight embrace.

Swirling magic curled around him, caressing his face and running through his hair, whispering words he couldn't quite understand.

And yet, his gaze remained firmly on the candle in front of him, the flickering flame almost hypnotic.

Then, as Draco finally cut his hand, adding his blood to the fire, it was like a haze came over everything.

Harry was finally able to pull his attention away from the candle’s flame, it felt like his eyes were being pulled towards something else.

Someone else.

And as his eyes met Theo’s, he knew exactly why.

They didn't need to keep doing that strange song and dance around one another.

There was no need for them to pretend they didn't want to be near each other at all times.

In the back of his mind, Harry heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like Fiona's, speaking softly in a way she only ever reserved for the times she really needed Harry to understand something.

“Life is short, Haz, and love makes it that much better. Don't hold back out of fear, enjoy the ride, and with any luck, it'll turn out alright.”

And so, he surged forward, his hands coming up to cup Theo’s face, and he pressed their lips together. Theo’s arms wrapped around him, giving him time to slide his arms around his neck, before the two of them lost their balance and toppled over, descending into a fit of giggles between kisses.

After a moment, they both pulled away, pressing their foreheads together and just… Looking at each other.

Theo, with his deep blue eyes, his soft brown hair, the dimples in his cheeks that formed when he was really, truly smiling.

A smile that was rarely directed at anyone other than Harry himself.

He was beautiful.

Yeah. There was no doubt about it.

He was beautiful, and Harry loved him.

He needed him. Needed him like the air he needed to breathe.

—

Leaving the Room of Requirement felt like waking up from a fever dream.

Though not in a bad way.

They all stumbled out of the room, hands freshly healed and cleaned of blood, smelling of incense and raw, unfiltered magic, and feeling freer than they ever had before. Their heads were still a bit hazy, and none of them could get a full sentence out without erupting into a fit of giggles, but they felt good.

There was a peace that had settled over them in a way that couldn't be described, like they just knew that everything would be okay.

Theo kept his arm firmly around Harry's shoulders as they walked, occasionally pressing kisses to the side of his head and giggling again.

Everyone else was in the same situation. Neville had Luna on his back, the two of them singing a song that Harry had never heard before, but doing so with such a passion he couldn't help but sing along.

Daphne was ahead of them, spinning lazily as she walked, a small smile on her face, while Draco and Blaise trailed behind them, just… Looking around in a sort of amazement as they traveled the hallways.

They were back on the ground floor when their giddy haze faded, the sight of dozens of terrified looking students rushing back into the Great Hall snapping them back to reality.

“What the hell..?” Harry asked softly, a frown forming on his face. He stood up straighter, and Neville let Luna down from his back.

Daphne was immediately on guard, rushing over to Marcus Flint, the Quidditch Captain, and grabbing his arm.

“Flint. What happened?” She asked, looking up at him as the rest of the group came over. Flint’s eyes widened when he saw them, and he visibly sagged in relief.

“There you are. We had no fucking clue where you were.” He growled out without any real venom in his voice. “Get in the Great Hall. We all have to sleep in here tonight. Especially you, Hartford.”

“What? Why??” Harry asked, grabbing onto Theo’s arm a bit tighter.

“Because Sirius Black just tried to break into Gryffindor Tower with a fucking knife, and no one knows where the hell he is.”

Chapter Text

“You’ve had a hard time of it, haven’t you?” A man’s quiet, gruff voice asked, drawing Harry out of his slumber.

“Mm?” He replied, slowly pushing himself up and blinking slowly, trying to force the sleep from his eyes. “...What do you mean..?”

He looked around slowly, his blurry vision showing him what looked to be a snowy meadow. On closer inspection, however, he realized it was simply a snow filled clearing in the middle of the woods.

A clearing that had held secrets that only he and his coven shared.

“With Quirrell in your first year, and that bastard Lockhart last year… You just can’t seem to catch a break, can you, boy? Even in your dreams, you come back to the place where you took a man’s life, for taking that which cannot be replaced.”

“...No, I guess not.”

Harry slowly looked over at the man, his features unrecognizable. Sometimes, he was an elderly man, with long white hair and a matching beard, and a set of piercing green eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. Other times, he was a boy only a few years older than Harry himself, with grey eyes and black hair that reminded him of Fiona.

There were others, too. Other people mixed in, more people with grey eyes and black hair, a man with a mop of red atop his head and blue eyes soft as the sky, and, every once in a while, it seemed like the man’s face would morph into Gid’s, for only a few seconds.

It was surreal, and it made Harry nauseous, so he looked away, deciding not to stare at the man’s constantly shifting features.

“...It’s not your fault you know.” The man said in his gentle voice. “You didn’t ask for any of this.”

“No, I didn’t.” He agreed softly. “I didn’t agree to any of it. Nor did I ask for it.”

“You were only a baby when this fate was decided for you… And you have had no say in what the world chooses to do to you. It is a cruel, unfortunate thing.”

Harry chuckled bitterly, shaking his head. “But it’s my life. I have to deal with it. I… I have to deal with all of it.”

“But do you?”

That made him pause, causing him to look over at the man curiously and raise a brow.

“...You are the Heir to four Noble and Ancient Houses… You outrank nearly every person in this school with your Slytherin ring alone. Hell, you have more magic in your left pinky than some wixen would ever hope to have.” The man said, reaching out and gently touching Harry’s cheek. “If you would like, I can teach you to control it.”

He frowned, closing his eyes and leaning into the gentle touch. “I don’t… I don’t want all this power. I don’t want to be the hero that everyone wants me to be.”

“Why not? The glory, the fame… It is not enticing to you?”

“No. I don’t want to be some sort of saint to these people. I want to be left alone. I want to protect my friends and family, and I want to just…”

“You want to be.”

“Yes. All I want is to be.”

The man smiled at that, his face returning to that of the red haired man with soft blue eyes that crinkled up in the corners.

“...Then you and I are one in the same, Harry.” He said softly. “And I… We, will do what we can to help you. All you need to do is listen. Can you do that?”

“What do I need to listen to?” Harry asked, his eyes widening a bit.

“You’ll know, Harry. You’re like me. You’ll know when it’s time. We always do.”

And with that, the man pressed two fingers against his forehead, and pushed him backwards. The snowy clearing seemed to fall out from underneath him, sending him tumbling down, down, down into a void of nothingness.

And then, he hit the ground.

—

Harry woke with a start, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to suck air back into his lungs.

What the hell was that?

He’d been falling, and then, then he hit the ground?

Falling from a height like that should have hurt, shouldn’t it have?

He blinked a few times, adjusting himself in his sleeping bag to see if he was in any pain. When he realized that no, nothing was broken, and that he was perfectly fine, he relaxed, gently squeezing the hand that was tightly pressed into his, looking up to see Theo’s peacefully sleeping face.

He smiled a bit at that, reaching out and brushing a few strands of hair out of his boyfriend’s face.

His boyfriend.

That was a nice way to think of Theo.

Harry sighed a bit, slowly pulling his hand away from him and rolling onto his back, looking up at the ceiling and fumbling around for his glasses. Judging from the positions of the stars, it was probably around three in the morning.

Long before any of them should be awake, but he could hear some strange shuffling around the Great Hall, like other students were still wide awake as well.

It really was a strange situation.

The entire student body, piled into sleeping bags in the Great Hall, while the professors sweeped the school to look for his godfather.

Truthfully, Harry was a bit disturbed by that, but that was only because he knew that Sirius was innocent. Or, rather, he was one of the only people who believed that he was innocent.

Although, him trying to break into Gryffindor Tower was a bit strange, but, constant Dementor exposure probably drove people insane more often than not, so he wasn’t concerned about that either.

Sirius couldn’t hurt him. That was something he knew for a fact.

He sighed a bit, moving to sit up so he could get a glass of water and focus on his strange dream instead, but froze when he heard the doors to the Great Hall open, a rush of magic coming over him and letting him know that Dumbledore had just entered the room once again. He laid back down as quickly as he could, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep as he listened in to the conversation the headmaster was having with the Head Boy and Girl, who were only a few feet away, judging by where Gemma’s magic was trailing from.

"Any sign of him, Professor?" Asked the oldest Weasley, Percy, if he remembered correctly, in a whisper.

"None that I’ve found. Is all well here?"

"Everything is under control, sir."

"Good. There's no point moving them all now. I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back tomorrow."

"And the Fat Lady, sir?"

"Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her as quickly as possible."

Gemma spoke up then, her voice quiet and sounding far more concerned than Harry had ever heard her before.

“Headmaster.” She sighed. “Could it be possible that he tried to break into Gryffindor Tower by mistake? I mean, he doesn’t know which house Hartford is in, and we all know that his biological parents were both Gryffindors… If he finds out that Hartford is a Slytherin…”

“He’ll be perfectly fine, Miss Fawley.” Dumbledore replied. “The Slytherin dormitory is much harder to find than the Gryffindor dormitory, especially since Black, himself, was a Gryffindor.”

“But he had a Slytherin for a brother. Most of his family were Slytherin. Surely he would know-”

“Miss Fawley. I’m sure that Harry will be perfectly fine.”

Gemma huffed, clearly displeased with that answer, and Harry tried not to flinch when he felt her gaze turn to him. He didn’t feel a hint of maliciousness, however, only… Concern.

She was genuinely worried for his safety.

Then, the door of the hall creaked open again, and more footsteps approached the trio nearby Harry’s head.

"Headmaster?" Snape said, and judging by the sound, he spoke with a frown. "The whole of the third floor has been searched. He's not there. And Filch has done the dungeons; nothing there either."

"What about the Astronomy tower? Professor Trelawney's room? The Owlery?"

"All searched. All cleared."

"Very well, Severus. I didn't really expect Black to linger."

"Have you any theory as to how he got in, Professor?" Snape asked.

"Many, Severus, each of them as unlikely as the next."

Harry opened his eyes a fraction and squinted up to where they stood. Dumbledore's back was to him, but he could see Percy Weasley’s face, rapt with attention, and Snape's profile, which looked angry. Gemma, however, was looking straight at him, and she pressed a finger to her lips, signaling for him to be as quiet as possible. He nodded, imperceptibly, but she smiled a bit in turn.

"You remember the conversation we had, Headmaster, just before, ah, the start of term?" Snape hissed, barely opening his mouth.

"I do, Severus." Dumbledore nodded, and there was something like a warning in his voice.

"It seems almost impossible that Black could have entered the school without inside help. I did express my concerns when you appointed-"

"I do not believe a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it.” Dumbledore said simply. “And for that matter, the person in question is currently recovering in his office after his last bout with his illness. He is in no condition to be helping anyone with anything.”

Snape’s mouth was pressed into a fine line, but he nodded, looking at Gemma with an equally concerned gaze. She shrugged, a small puff of air escaping her, and he nodded as well.

The two were obviously having some sort of imperceptible conversation, likely about how foolish Dumbledore was for not taking their concerns seriously.

"I must go down to the Dementors." Dumbledore sighed. “I said I would inform them when our search was complete."

"Didn't they want to help, sir?" Percy Weasley asked.

"Oh yes. But I'm afraid no dementor will cross the threshold of this castle while I am headmaster."

Percy looked slightly abashed. Dumbledore left the hall, walking quickly and quietly. Snape stood for a moment, watching the headmaster with an expression of deep resentment on his face, then he too left.

Gemma frowned more, shaking her head and turning to speak softly to Percy, who nodded at her and headed further down the hall, closer to where the Gryffindors were sleeping. Once he was out of earshot, she made her way over to Harry, kneeling down next to him and whispering.

“You heard all of that?”

“Yeah…” Harry murmured. “...Were they talking about Professor Lupin?”

“I think so. Do you know anything about his condition? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“Just that he has one. Beyond that, I don’t know.”

Gemma frowned, nodding a bit. “...How are you feeling?”

“I feel fine.” He said, sitting up a bit and looking at her, her brown eyes almost glowing in the low candlelight. “I’m not scared of Black.”

“...I guess that makes sense… Listen, just… Try and get back to sleep.”

“Okay.” Harry nodded, hesitantly settling back down into his sleeping bag. Gemma reached down, gently smoothing back his hair in an effort to comfort him, before she stood up again and started to walk around the Great Hall.

He stared blankly up at the ceiling, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of what he’d just heard.

Apparently, Dumbledore was banking on the fact that Sirius didn’t know what house Harry was actually in to keep him safe, which is probably the stupidest fucking plan he had ever heard of. It would take all of ten minutes to figure out that he’s a Slytherin, which means that he must have gone up to Gryffindor Tower for a specific reason.

What that reason is, however, he had no clue.

Then, there was Lupin’s condition. Obviously it was bad enough that he had to lock himself up in his office just to recover from it, and from what he could remember, there hadn’t been any Defense classes that day.

His eyes flickered over the ceiling again, a soft sigh escaping him until his eyes fell upon a far too familiar celestial body.

A moon.

A nearly full moon.

Harry froze, sucking in a sharp breath.

Remus… Lupin… Full moon… Condition…

Oh fuck.

One of his godfathers is an escaped convict. The other is a fucking werewolf.

The man in his dream was completely right. He cannot catch a break.

—

Narcissa,

I’m sure you’ve already heard, but Sirius broke into the school. We found out after everyone else because we did a Samhain ritual up in the Room of Requirement.

It really scared everyone, because he tried to break into Gryffindor Tower.

I know that he can’t hurt me, and I know that I’m completely safe, but I’m worried about other people. Do you think his years in Azkaban may have made him… Dangerous? I don’t know any other word for it at this point, but I just… I worry.

In other news, I had a strange dream. I had a conversation with a man, whose face kept changing the longer I stared at him. If I think about it enough, I think he looked like Salazar Slytherin, and then a bunch of other men I didn’t quite recognize.

He also looked like Gid at one point, and that was difficult.

But… He said that he would help me. Well, more specifically, he said “we will help you”.

I feel like I have way more questions than I know what to do with, but I’m hoping they can get answered soon.

We all love and miss you, and we can’t wait for winter break.

Love,

Harry

P.S. Theo and I are dating now!

-

Harry,

First of all, to you and Theodore: Congratulations! Love is a beautiful, wonderful thing, and I’m so happy the two of you were able to find that sort of happiness in one another.

Secondly, I wouldn’t doubt that about Sirius. As much as I love him, as he is still my cousin, he was prone to fits of rage when we were children, and I can definitely see him getting angered as a grown man and taking it out on the portraits in the castle.

Yes, Lucius has filled me in on the details.

While I still believe that you are the last person on his list that he would want to harm, I can’t help but wonder why he would target Gryffindor Tower.

His anger never made much sense, but still… He was an intelligent man. He wouldn’t attack blindly and without reason.

Your dream is of concern to me as well, although not in the sense that I’m worried about what it means.

You are the heir to two incredibly ancient families, families who have not had a direct, named heir for centuries. The magic in those rings has been dormant for longer than they should have been, and I imagine that it was, rather simply, the magic of the Peverell and Slytherin rings reaching out to you in a time where you were safe, yet vulnerable at the same time.

After all, you never sleep with your rings on.

I don’t think it’s something you should worry too much about, darling. If anything, it’s probably just the magic reaching out and letting you know that you are, in fact, able to trust it.

I’ll try to send mine and Lucius’ research soon, and hopefully, that can help clear things up as well.

Narcissa

—

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub.

The Fat Lady, the Gryffidor portrait, had her ripped canvas taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat gray pony. Nobody, except for Harry, was very happy about this because Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day.

From what Hermione had mentioned to him, his passwords consisted of ‘the most maddening shit she had ever heard’, such as ‘Flibbertigibbet’, ‘Oddsbodikins', and the ever popular ‘Scurvy Cur’.

The Gryffindor plight, however, was made far less hilarious by the fact that Harry was now being tailed by the teachers and portraits.

Which, was really starting to bum him out.

He sat quietly at breakfast that day, the Saturday after the Black Break-In, picking at his fried eggs and toast, not feeling hungry at all due to the fact that every single one of his plans had been thwarted by nosy professors and portraits, just waiting for the mail to arrive. If Narcissa’s letter the previous day was correct, he was supposed to receive a parcel from her that morning.

And not just any parcel.

The Parcel.

The one that contained all of her and Lord Malfoy’s research into Slytherin, the Chamber of Secrets, and his accidental familiar bonding with the Basilisk, and what it all entailed for him.

“Harry. Package.” Neville nodded, pointing up to the open windows as Mephistopheles and Hedwig, along with the Malfoy eagle owl, Archimedes, swooped down. The three of them all had part of the parcel tied to their legs, and they carefully landed on the table with it.

Meph, in true Meph fashion, misjudged his landing and nearly went face first into a pile of fried potatoes, being saved at the last minute by Blaise quickly reaching out and snatching him up. He hooted in thanks, gently nipping at Blaise’s cheek in what they could only assume was an attempt at a kiss.

“You’re welcome, buddy.” He chuckled softly, kissing the owl’s head as he untied his foot. Harry and Draco made quick work of freeing Hedwig and Archimedes, who both snatched up sausages from the table and took off again, while Mephistopheles seemed perfectly content to just… Sit in Blaise’s lap and be fed pieces of ham and sausage.

“So, is this..?” Daphne asked, and Harry nodded.

“All of Narcissa and Lord Malfoy’s research into the… You-Know-What.” He said quietly, and Draco sighed.

“Are you ever going to call my father by his name?”

“Maybe someday. I don’t know.”

“You should. He pouts about the fact that you call Mother by her name, but still refer to him as Lord Malfoy.”

“Well, I’m weird.” Harry shrugged. “I still can’t call Blaise’s mum anything but Mrs. Zabini. Which, is better than me constantly calling her Contessa.”

“It’s true. She’s happy about that.” Blaise chimed in, still gently scratching under Mephistopheles’ cheek.

He hummed, carefully pulling open the parcel, and grinning when he saw the letter placed right on top, along with the box of sweets and cakes that Narcissa always sent for Draco. He handed his friend the box, before he popped the letter open, his eyes skimming over the words for a moment as a smile spread across his face.

-

Dearest Harry,

Enclosed in this parcel is, of course, a gift for my beloved Draco right on top, but beneath that is every mention I could find of Salazar Slytherin, the Chamber of Secrets, and familiar bonds. I attempted to condense the information as much as possible, but there are certain things that need to be explained in full.

I have also added a book that, while it may seem to be a bit out of place amongst the rest of the texts I’ve provided you, may also teach you things that you didn’t know about wixen culture originally. After all, food and stories will tell you the most about any culture you come across.

And, I believe it may have something to do with the Peverells.

I hope what we were able to find helps you, darling.

Good luck.

Narcissa

-

Theo hummed a bit, leaning over his shoulder and kissing his cheek. “So, let me guess… You have a migraine, and you need to retire to the dorms so you can recover in peace?”

“You know me so well.” Harry hummed, turning his head and catching his boyfriend- his boyfriend!!- in a kiss, a smile pulling at his lips.

Across the table, Draco fake gagged. “Disgusting. I hate you both. You’re worse than my parents.”

“We’ve been together for a week!”

“And you have already usurped my parents, who have been married for sixteen years, in disgustingness.”

“I think it’s sweet.” Luna chimed in.

“Thank you, Lue.” Theo chuckled, shaking his head. “Either way, go, Harry. Have fun researching.”

“Thanks, love.”

Harry quickly gathered up his parcel and snuck out of the Great Hall, just barely managing to duck out of the way of Professor Vector, who was obviously looking for him, and headed back down to the dungeons.

It wasn’t often that he got to research oddly specific topics here at Hogwarts, but on the rare occasion he was able to? He couldn’t resist diving headfirst into it.

—

Three brothers, traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight, reached a deep treacherous river where anyone who attempted to swim or wade would drown. Learned in the magical arts, the brothers conjured a bridge with their wands and proceeded to cross.

Halfway through the bridge, a hooded figure stood before them. The figure was the enraged spirit of Death, cheated of his due. Death cunningly pretended to congratulate them and proceeded to award them with gifts of their own choosing.

The eldest brother, a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. Death granted his wish by fashioning the Elder Wand from a branch of a nearby elder tree standing on the banks of the river.

The second brother, an arrogant man, chose to further humiliate death, and asked for the power to recall the deceased from the grave. Death granted his wish by crafting the Resurrection Stone from a stone picked from the riverbank.

The third and youngest brother, who was the most humble and wise, did not trust Death and asked for something to enable him to go forth without Death being able to follow. A reluctant Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own invisibility cloak.

The three brothers took their prizes and soon went their separate ways.

The eldest brother traveled to a village where a wizard whom he had quarreled lived. He sought out a duel and fought the wizard using the wand, instantly killing the latter. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the eldest brother walked to an inn not far from the dueling site and spent the night there.

Taken by his conscience and lust of the Elder Wand's power, the eldest brother boasted of this wand gifted by Death and his own invincibility. That very night, an unknown murderous wizard crept up to the eldest brother as he slept, drunk from wine.

The wizard stole the wand, then murdered the oldest brother by slitting his throat for good measure, and that was when Death took the first brother for his own.

The middle brother returned to his home where he lived alone. Turning the stone thrice in his hand the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared at once before him, much to his delight.

Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered.

Finally, the middle brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, committed suicide by hanging so as truly to join her.

That was when Death took the second brother for his own.

Death searched for the youngest brother as years passed but never succeeded. It was only when the third brother reached a great age, he took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son.

Greeting Death as an old friend, they departed this life as equals.

—

Harry was quiet as he set down his ancient copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, every inch of his body tingling with a morbid fascination.

Just like Narcissa had said, it was a strange, strange book, filled with fairy tales that reminded him of the Brothers Grimm stories that his mum used to read to him when they would be baking down in the cafe.

And yet, he understood exactly why she had sent it to him.

Especially because of the small, scratched in symbol on the final page of the Tale of Three Brothers.

A triangle, a circle, and a line. A strange eye.

Just like the one on his Peverell ring.

He frowned a bit, sitting up from his spot on the sofa, trying to keep the other half a dozen open books from toppling to the floor around him while he shuffled around to grab his notebook and pen to start scribbling down more of his notes.

He was elbow deep in his research now, and he didn’t give a damn about what anyone had to say if they found him.

He now knew so much more than he would have otherwise.

The notes that were scribbled across the papers in his notebook were messy, and, honestly, they went in a strange sort of circle, around and around as they slowly made sense of the similarly swirling thoughts in his mind.

The Peverells were a very, very old family. Older than the founding of Hogwarts, if Harry was correct on his timeline. One of the original Hogwarts ledgers that Narcissa had found, one that listed the original fifty students, had a name on it that he recognized.

Iolanthe Peverell, or Peverell-Potter, as she came to be known as.

That explained that, at least, and it seemed like she had been a Slytherin during her days at Hogwarts, under the personal tutelage of Salazar Slytherin himself.

Any trace of the Peverells disappeared after Iolanthe, however, as the name never cropped up again in any ledgers after that.

The few books that he had on Slytherin, however, had a lot more information. Harry already knew that the founder had been a Parselmouth, and that his Chamber of Secrets had been built to house the basilisk, although the earliest descriptions of the Chamber made no sense with what he knew.

Sighing, Harry shook his head. His mind felt like it was going to explode from trying to reconcile everything about that, so, he decided to move on to a different subject, closing all of those ancient tomes and picking up one of the newer ones.

The Art of Familiar Bonding, which sounded promising.

He was about to open the book when, horribly, the door to the common room opened.

Ah, fuck. He was screwed.

He slunk down on the couch, trying to disappear from sight as much as possible, but stopped when he heard how light the footsteps were.

None of his professors walked that lightly.

So, Harry poked his head up from the sofa, peering over the back at it, and locking eyes with Astoria, Daphne’s little sister.

Whose deer-in-the-headlights expression matched his own.

“...You’re supposed to be in class.” He said quietly.

“...So are you?”

“Touche.” He nodded slowly, sitting up again and setting his book to the side, pushing himself up onto the back of the sofa and tilting his head. “I know why I’m ditching, but why are you ditching?”

Astoria hesitated, wrapping her arms around herself and looking away. “I just… I didn’t feel good. I asked Professor Flitwick if I could go to Madam Pomfrey but I came back here instead…”

Harry frowned a bit, grabbing his books, except for the one about familiars, and shoving them all into his bag, before he patted the spot next to him. She hesitantly made her way over to him, sitting down and pulling her knees up to her chest.

“What’s going on, Tori?” He asked softly, resting his head on the back of the sofa and watching her. “Is it your yearmates? Or something else?”

“...I don’t know.” She murmured, burying her face in her arms. “I just feel bad. All the time. Like… Like sad, and scared, and lonely…”

“Have you told Daphne this?”

“No, I… I don’t want her to worry about me.”

“She’s your sister. She’s always going to worry about you.’

Astoria sniffed, wiping her eyes. “I know, but… It feels silly, and Daph will just get all upset and worried about me and… And I don’t want her to be sad too.”

“Tori…” He sighed affectionately. “Can I hug you?”

When the younger girl nodded, Harry gently wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug and kissing the top of her head. He smoothed her hair down gently, letting her cling to him like a vice grip.

“Those feelings are natural, you know.” Harry hummed, still petting her hair, letting her magic wash over him, and wrapping her in his own. “You’re in a new environment, away from your parents for the first time, and you’re still getting used to that. When I first started at Hogwarts, all I wanted to do was go home.”

“Yeah..? But you seem so comfortable here…”

“Trust me, it’s an act.” He chuckled a bit, shaking his head as he pulled away just enough to look her in the eyes. “Do I feel safer when I’m around your sister and the rest of my friends? Absolutely. Do I feel comfortable here at all? No, not really.”

“Then why do you stay?”

“Because my family is here. And that means you, too, alright? So, even if you feel alone, you’re not. You have Daphne, you have me, you have Blaise… You have all of us, okay?”

Astoria nodded, giving him a soft smile, which he returned easily.

“So… Why didn’t you go to class?” She asked curiously, tilting her head at him. It was an obvious subject change, but, Harry wasn’t going to push her on her feelings.

If she wanted to talk, she could talk. If not, he wouldn’t bug her about it.

“Research.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he grabbed his book. “I decided to play hooky so I could sit down and just, read for a few hours.”

Her eyes seemed to light up when she read the title of the book.

“You’re researching familiars?” Astoria gasped softly. “Can I read with you? Mummy and Daddy always talk about how special it is to bond with an animal like that, and I wanna try.”

Harry chuckled a bit, settling into the couch and opening the book again, setting it in his lap. “Sure. Maybe you can help me make sense of it. Two heads are better than one, after all.”

She grinned, shifting closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder as the two of them began to read.

It was a quiet sort of peace that neither one had expected to get that day, even with another’s presence.

It was… It was nice.

Chapter Text

Rain was, usually, a welcome sight for Harry. The fresh scent of petrichor, the way even the hottest days of the year yielded to the cooling sensation, and how most people tended to hurry inside to get out of it, desperately trying to avoid getting soaked to the bone.

However, as Slytherin’s very first Quidditch game of the year was drawing nearer, he really, really, did not want to be experiencing this sort of weather.

The winds were so strong they nearly knocked Blaise over, and it was difficult to fly with the limited visibility that they had. The balls kept going off course, and truthfully, none of them felt very confident in their chances on this first game.

Their confidence fell even more when Flint was called to the side by Madam Hooch, who was supervising their practice, before he summoned all of them back down to the ground, leading them into the locker room so they could dry off and hear what he had to say.

“Wood just came to talk to Madam Hooch.” Their captain grunted out as they all began to carefully shuck off their soaked uniforms. “Their Seeker dropped out. They won’t be able to play tomorrow.”

“What? Why?” Peregrine asked, his eyes wide. “Who the fuck are we playing then?”

“He didn’t want to play with the Dementors so close by, and, from what she said, we’re playing Hufflepuff.”

Harry sucked in a sharp breath. That was going to be a problem.

Hopkins, the Gryffindor Seeker, wasn’t a confident flyer at all, something that he was going to use to his advantage.

Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker, and Captain, was a much more confident flyer. He was also older, and faster, and significantly more experienced than Harry was.

“...Oh fuck me.” He murmured, rubbing his face. Draco winced, shaking his head.

“We’ve been preparing for Gryffindor this entire time. It’s like they’re trying to mess us up.” Adrian huffed. “They probably are, honestly. It’s Wood’s last year, isn’t it? He’s probably hoping to weasel his way to the Quidditch Cup.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.” Flint nodded, before he turned to Harry. “We should go over a new game plan, Harry. Just to make sure we know what to do.”

“Agreed.” He replied softly. “We just… We just have to pivot a bit. Try something different.”

Blaise paused for a moment, the top of his head just barely poking out of his sweater before he yanked it down, his eyes wide as he looked at Harry.

“Wronski Feint.” He said sharply. “Get him to slam into the ground, distract him, do what you can to disorient him.”

Lucian, the other Beater, lit up at that. “Yeah, that could work. Perry and I can knock some Bludgers his way as well, if you want.”

Harry nodded a bit. “That could work, yeah. I… I’ll do my best with the Wronski. I can do it perfectly in clear weather, but… This isn’t clear weather at all.”

“Just be careful.” Draco insisted. “Theo will have our heads if you break something trying to pull this off.”

“He’ll kill me if I break something. All you guys have to do is not get caught.”

Flint chuckled, shaking his head a bit. “Draco’s right though, Harry. Be careful. You can feint better than Krum most days, but like you said… This isn’t clear weather. We don’t know how this will go.”

“I’ll be careful. I promise.” Harry said softly, causing Peregrine to reach over and ruffle his hair.

“And if any rogue Bludgers go for you, I got you.” He grunted.

“Thanks, Peregrine.”

—

“I cannot believe that the game wasn’t canceled today.” Adrian murmured as he poked his head out of the locker room, a frown on his face. “The sky is pissing on us and we’re supposed to fly in this weather?”

Harry hummed, adjusting his goggles one more time before he tapped on them with his wand, sending a silvery sheen over them, just like Luna had done for his glasses back in Italy.

“Wizards have no common sense, Adrian. Remember?” He asked, walking over to the Keeper and tapping his goggles as well, before making his way around to the rest of his teammates and casting the spell on theirs.

They needed as much help as they could get with how bad the weather was outside.

“Yeah, yeah…” The older boy sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just feel like something bad is going to happen because of the storm. I mean, the lightning is right above us. Someone is going to get struck!”

“You’re mother henning again.” Flint said as he walked past, patting his friend on the back before he took his place at the front of the locker room and immediately drawing everyone’s attention towards him. “Alright, even though Adrian is fussing over the storm, he still has a point. Be careful out there, and if you think it’s getting too dangerous, land. I don’t care if we have to forfeit. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Yes, Captain.” They all chorused, and Harry fought back a smile at the fact that both of the oldest members of the team were fussing over them so hard.

There was a sharp whistle from outside, likely strengthened by a Sonorus charm, and they all took a deep breath, grabbed their Nimbus 2001’s, and headed out onto the field.

The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was cheering, they couldn't hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder. Rain was splattering over Harry's goggles, but thankfully, due to the charm he cast on them, it didn’t stick, which meant he could still see.

Despite that, he couldn’t help but worry. He was barely going to be able to see the Snitch, which meant he was going to have to rely completely on the traces of magic it left behind.

It wasn’t a foolproof plan, but it was the only one he had.

The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands. Diggory smiled at Flint, who gave him a curt nod in response, and spoke quietly.

Diggory’s smile fell immediately, and he looked deadly serious, nodding at the other captain before looking at his team and shouting something over to them. Harry couldn’t make out what it was, but, it was probably the same as what their own captain had told them before the game started.

“Mount your brooms!” Madam Hooch shouted, and he ripped his foot out of the muddy ground with a sickening squelch, throwing it over his broom.

She put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant, and without a moment of hesitation, they all lifted off the ground, their brooms staggering a bit in the harsh winds. He held his as steady as he could and turned, squinting into the rain.

Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin and frozen, hardly able to see his teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch. He flew backward and forward across the field past blurred green and yellow shapes, with no idea of what was happening in the rest of the game.

He couldn't hear the commentary over the wind, and the crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks, battered umbrellas, and desperate attempts at making shields to try and keep some of the rain off.

Harry came very close to being unseated by a Bludger two separate times, only being rescued at the last second by Peregrine, who seemed to be hovering within twenty yards of him no matter where he was. His vision was complete shit in this weather, and he could tell that everyone else was struggling just as much.

So much for the charm he’d cast on them earlier.

Lightning struck a few feet from Draco, who let out a terrified yelp and nearly fell off his broom. Harry rushed over, shoving him back on and grabbing the back of his shirt to keep him steady.

“You alright?!” He shouted over the howling wind.

“Yeah! I’m fine!” His friend shouted back, although he looked completely and utterly frazzled.

“Do you want to call a time out?!”

“No! I’ll be fine!” And with that, Draco zoomed back down towards the game, snatching the Quaffle out of the air when one of the Hufflepuff Chasers was struck by a Bludger, and sending it straight through the hoop.

Harry sighed, shaking his head as he closed his eyes, letting the tendrils of his magic slowly reach out across the field, trying to find even the vaguest imprint of the Snitch’s magic.

When he felt nothing, he opened his eyes again, just in time to watch another massive, forked lightning strike illuminate the sky.

This was getting fucking dangerous. He needed to find the Snitch, and fast.

Harry turned to dive down low, hoping to catch Diggory’s attention so he could try and feint him into the ground, when another flash of lightning struck, illuminating the form of a massive, shaggy black dog in the stands nearby.

Was that Snuffles?

As soon as the lightning disappeared, however, the dog did as well. He shook his head quickly, blinking a few times to try and reorient his brain, when a fluttering spark ran through him.

The Snitch!

He whipped his head around, his eyes landing on Diggory, who was firmly on the Snitch’s trail, and he took off after the older boy, his eyes narrowing as the two of them raced after the tiny, golden ball.

The Snitch took them higher and higher, the two Seekers neck and neck, reaching out desperately to try and grab it.

Then, the temperature dropped, and so did the Snitch.

Diggory turned sharply, still chasing after the ball, but Harry?

Harry froze, his eyes widening as he stared just ahead of him, his mind starting to fill with a horrible buzzing sensation.

At least a hundred Dementors, their hidden faces pointing at him, were standing beneath him. It was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, cutting at his insides.

The buzzing got louder as they got closer, and Harry couldn’t move.

He could feel something warm trickling from his nose, and from his ears, as his vision began to become staticy, the forms of the Dementors becoming harder and harder to see.

Cold hands reached out and grabbed his face, and he was filled with a blinding pain as the air was sucked from his lungs.

In a desperate attempt, he struck out with both of his hands, managing to hit… Something beneath the Dementor’s cloak, and making it let out its own cry of pain as it dug its claws into his face even harder, before throwing him to the side

Then, as he felt the icy wind begin to whip around his body, he faded into sweet, sweet unconsciousness.

—

Remus felt his heart leap into his throat as he watched Harry’s limp body crumple into the ground, Dumbledore’s spell not reaching him in time. Two of the boys on his team, Zabini and Malfoy, went down with him, their hands clutching to his uniform in a desperate attempt to stop him from descending any faster.

From what he could see, the two of them had, basically, had their arms ripped out of their sockets so fast they probably didn’t even feel the pain from it before they hit the ground, being knocked unconscious before they could even process what happened.

But he saw it all. He saw everything.

And the rush of ice that coursed through his body told him exactly what had caused this.

Dementors.

Hundreds of them, all quickly descending upon the students at the pitch, causing screams of terror and a rush of stampeding teenagers to hurry past him.

He, however, had a different goal in mind.

Remus leapt to his feet, sprinting down the stairs at full speed and heading down onto the pitch as the rest of the Quidditch teams descended as well, desperate to escape the Dementors’ wrath as well. Flint, the captain of the Slytherin team, had rushed over to the three unconscious boys, casting a shield charm over them before he stood by them protectively.

As much as he could understand the sentiment, there was very little that a basic shield could do in this situation.

Another one of the beasts swooped down towards the four young men, its claws sinking into Flint’s face for a moment as it began to lean in, even as he fought it off as best as he could.

He thrust out his wand, shouting out the incantation, and watched with a hint of despair as the massive wolf leapt from the end of his wand, its teeth gnashing as it rushed forward, sinking into the Dementor’s arm and ripping it away from Flint, whose legs buckled beneath him as he fought to suck air back into his lungs.

It was then, with a mixture of horror and fear, that Remus realized that many of the older students were rushing the field as well, like they wanted to try and fight to protect their classmates.

There were too many of them to protect on his own, and too many Dementors for his wolf to fight off for much longer.

He nearly let out a sob of relief when he saw Minerva’s tabby cats rush out, striking through a small pack of the beasts and sending them rushing away from a group of fleeing first years, their faces stained with tears and their bodies shaking as they continued to run.

The rest of the professors had joined him in their efforts to defend their students. Severus’ doe, Pomona’s honey badger, Dumbledore’s phoenix, and Filius’ eagle swooped around the pitch, doing everything they could to push the Dementors back.

But it still wasn’t enough. Even with the other professor’s non-corporeal patronuses, there were still too many Dementors.

Then, a familiar girl’s voice caught his attention.

“Professor Lupin!” Daphne Greengrass shouted over the pouring rain and buzzing that filled the air, her sister clinging to her and hiding her face in her chest as they rushed to their professors’, and their unconscious friends’, sides. “What’s that spell?!”

“The Patronus Charm!” He called back, his eyes wide. “It’s too complicated, Miss Greengrass- You need to evacuate-”

“What’s the fucking charm, professor!” She shouted right back, her eyes blazing as her hands clutched her wand and her sister desperately. For the briefest of moments, Remus didn’t see the blonde young woman.

Instead, he saw a girl with flaring, emerald eyes, and dark red hair that flowed in the wind, her jaw set in determination as she prepared to fight anyone who got in between her and the people she loved most.

“Its-” He staggered for a moment, feeling his control over his patronus falter. The Dementors were getting too close, it wouldn’t be long until they were completely taken over.

They needed help, and even if she couldn’t manage a corporeal patronus, any bit she could provide would help.

“It's Expecto Patronum! Focus on the happiest memory you can when you cast it!”

She nodded firmly, setting her jaw as she slid her fingers into Astoria’s hair, hugging her as close as possible as she held out her wand.

“Expecto Patronum.” She growled out.

Remus froze, his breath catching in his throat as a unicorn burst from the tip of her wand, letting out a great cry before it rushed forward, goring with its horn before making a sharp turn and heading towards another group of them.

The girl had a brilliant smile on her face, and yet, at the same time, there was a sort of sinister glee to it that unsettled him in a way he couldn’t understand.

Instead of focusing on that, however, he turned back around, directing his wolf around to drive a Dementor away from another group of students who were fleeing.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see more of Harry’s friends rushing over, looking at Severus as he shouted orders over to them, before they levitated the three unconscious boys away.

Lovegood rushed over to him and the Greengrass sisters, wrapping her arms around the younger and nodding at the older before they took off running after a tearful Nott and Longbottom, who were hauling ass away from the pitch as quickly as they could, with Flint at their heels, having recovered from nearly being kissed by a Dementor.

Speaking of the beasts… It seemed like with the students fleeing back to the castle at full speed, their interest in the game had wavered.

They no longer had the happiness of the students to feed off of, and so, they hurried away as quickly as they could, allowing the professors, and the lone student, to drop their arms, calling their patronuses back to them.

Severus, whose shoulders were shaking in a very uncharacteristic display of terror, immediately turned to his student and rushed over to her, wrapping her in his arms and hugging her close to his chest as he cradled the back of her head.

“That was foolish.” He grit out. “You could have put yourself, your sister, and us at risk with what you just did.”

“But… I did it…” Greengrass breathed out. “I summoned a Patronus, sir.”

His anger seemed to fade, and a soft huff that was the closest Remus had ever heard to laughter escaped him.

“Indeed, you did.”

Dumbledore chuckled a bit, drawing their attention over to him. He still had his usual genial, grandfatherly smile on his face, but there was very present exhaustion in his eyes.

None of them got out of this unscathed.

“Twenty points to Slytherin for unparalleled bravery, Miss Greengrass.” The headmaster said softly. “And another ten for casting a spell that many full grown wixen can barely manage, especially in the most dire of circumstances.”

Greengrass nodded a bit, slowly pulling away from Severus and running a hand through her hair.

“...I need to go to the castle. I need to be sure that Astoria is alright.” She said softly, stumbling a bit before she took off running up towards the castle, leaving the shaken up professors all standing in the middle of the field.

It took a moment before anyone spoke again, but when they did, it was Madam Pomfrey.

“Severus?” She asked, pulling the potion master’s attention over to her. “What did you tell Mr. Nott and Mr. Longbottom?”

“To take Hartford, Malfoy, and Zabini to the hospital wing, and contact St. Mungo’s via the floo in your office.” He nodded. “We’ll need help, and considering the injuries that three of our students sustained, they might even need to stay in the hospital a while to prevent any further damage.”

The medi-witch nodded, before she too began heading up to the castle.

“You all might as well follow!” She called over her shoulder. “You need chocolate, and some pepper ups! Thank Merlin, Severus brewed so many at the beginning of the year…”

Remus let out a soft huff of laughter at that, although he couldn’t ignore the tightness in his chest as he thought about Harry, unconscious and in what he could only guess was agony due to the injuries he sustained.

The group of professors slowly followed after Madam Pomfrey, none of them knowing quite what to say.

Although, as Remus looked over at Severus, the two of them had a quiet moment of solidarity, likely the only one they had ever truly had, because they both knew one thing that would result from this incident.

They were going to be stormed by an absolutely furious Narcissa Malfoy as soon as she got wind of what happened to her son, and her charge.

And if they were especially unlucky, the Contessa Zabini would be on the steps of the castle not long after, ready to take out everyone involved in having the Dementors on campus in the first place.

…Neither one of them wanted to be nearby when that eventuality occurred, and that, was fact.

—

Seventy-three broken bones, three and a half lost pints of blood, and a near complete core drain caused by Harry’s body’s desperate attempts to heal itself.

That, mixed with the drain caused by the Dementors on him, and dozens of other students at the Quidditch match, was the one thing that Juliana had not wanted to see.

She knew that Cornelius Fudge was an idiot. Every member of the ICW knew that Fudge was an idiot.

But knowing that he would so willingly put children in danger for his own mistakes? His own inability to properly search for an escaped convict?

That was far, far worse than what she had ever imagined possible.

And now there were dozens of Hogwarts students being treated at St. Mungo's hospital. Children who were nearly given the Dementor’s Kiss for doing nothing but trying to enjoy a fucking game of Quidditch.

She let out a small, shaky breath, looking over at her son, who was sitting next to Harry’s bedside with his arm in a sling. When the other boy fell from his broom, Blaise and Draco had attempted to catch him, afraid that a fall from that height would have killed him.

They managed to grab him and slow his descent a bit, but had dislocated their shoulders and elbows in the process.

Juliana was not afraid to admit that seeing her son, her darling boy, sitting there in agony as a healer attempted to push his bones back into their sockets had sent her into a panic attack.

And Draco, in the same condition, had nearly sent Narcissa to the floor.

She sighed a bit, leaning forward and wrapping her arm around Blaise gently, pressing a kiss to the side of his head as they both looked at Harry’s unconscious body, trying to ignore the horrible sobbing coming from a room nearby.

One of the students, a seventh year named Castor Torrance, had been nearly fully Kissed by one of the Dementors, and had to be carried back up to the castle by his classmates.

None of them knew if he was going to survive the night.

Blaise whimpered a bit, burrowing himself further into the crook of his mother’s neck as she ran her hand over his hair.

“I know, tesoro mio…” She said quietly, holding him as close as she could without hurting him. “I am so sorry…”

“Do you think…” He trailed off, like he was afraid to finish his sentence.

“I do not know.”

“...Will Harry be alright..?”

“I think he will be.” Juliana nodded. “He has survived a lot of pain in his life, Blaise… I believe he will pull through this as well.”

While she couldn’t make any guarantees, especially not when it came to some of the other students who were affected by the Dementors, she could at least somewhat guarantee that.

Harry was strong. Anyone could see that.

He would survive.

She sighed a bit, looking over at Blaise with soft eyes.

“You should go and sit with your friends. Give him time.” Juliana said softly, cupping his face in her hands. “I need to speak with some of the other parents about what happened today.”

He nodded a bit, closing his eyes as he leaned into her hands.

“...Destroy them, Mamma.” He murmured, a shaky breath escaping him. “For letting this happen, they need to be ruined.”

And she couldn’t help but smile.

Her wonderful, vindictive boy. Who loved so fiercely that the pain his friends experienced made him want the heads of those responsible served upon silver platters.

“Oh, my love… By this time next week, those responsible will have nothing but the clothes on their backs as a reminder of the injustice they have inflicted upon you all. I swear it.”

It was more than a threat, and her son knew that all too well.

It was a fucking promise.

Fudge, Dumbledore, and anyone else involved in the foolish decisions that put her children in the hospital, would have hell to pay, and they would, in fact, pay.

Chapter Text

It was a rare, rare day when a meeting of the International Confederation of Wizards was called without the approval of the Supreme Mugwump himself, but, when the situation was as dire as it was now, and the Mugwump himself was being called into question?

Exceptions could be made.

Juliana had called the meeting herself, deciding to cut out any chance of it getting corrupted, and had even offered her own Parliament’s court as the meeting’s location, which was happily agreed upon by the rest of the ICW Members.

Which, is where she stood, dressed in all black robes as she held her head high, fighting back the tears which threatened to spill down her cheeks.

She needed to be strong. She needed her fellow world leaders to take a stand against what occurred at Hogwarts that day.

She needed justice.

The delegates from around the world slowly filed in, taking their seats and greeting each other with quiet, somber voices. One by one, they all turned their attention to the woman in the center of the room, who began to speak once everyone had gone quiet.

“Esteemed delegates.” Juliana began. “I thank you for coming on such short notice. As you may know, this meeting was called without following proper procedures, because the matter we must discuss is far too important to let slip through the cracks, as I know some members of this delegation would prefer to let happen.”

She cast a pointed look over towards Fudge and the other British delegates, who seemed to pale as her gaze turned to them.

“Three days ago, during a Quidditch match at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, hundreds of Dementors descended upon the pitch, causing harm to seventy-six students.” She explained, pausing as horrified gasps erupted from around the room. England had been under fire for years for their continued use of Dementors at Azkaban, because the torture they inflicted on the prisoners held within oftentimes went far beyond what a person could consider humane.

“What was the reason for Dementors to be at a school?!” Park Ye-Jun, the delegate from South Korea, called out, causing an uproar of anger around him. “That is simply asking for an incident like this to occur!”

“I agree.” Katya Romanova, Russia’s delegate nodded, her clear voice causing the outraged delegates to quiet down for a moment. “I understand that an inmate named… Sirius Black escaped earlier this year. Is this the reason for their presence at the school?”

“It is, yes.” Juliana nodded. “However, except for a sighting fifteen miles from Hogsmeade village last month, Black has not been sighted near the school. I am about to pass out files on what each of the students affected by the Dementors are being healed from, and I believe you all should read what it says.”

She pulled her wand from its holster on her wrist, waving it through the air and causing piles of parchment to float around the room, landing on the tables in front of each member of the ICW. Almost in unison, they began to read, horrified murmurs escaping them the further they got into the documents.

She knew what they said, though. Seizures, bloody noses, vomiting, fainting spells… The students who had been too close to the Dementors for too long had it even worse, with those who were still conscious were complaining of voices; screaming, begging for their lives, horrible sobs that kept them awake.

Those who weren’t were being kept under round the clock care, their temperatures having to be manually raised to a normal level to make sure they were alright.

And that wasn’t even going into Harry Hartford, Castor Torrance, and Marcus Flint’s files.

The three boys had nearly been Kissed, and, as a result, were under the closest supervision. Harry and Marcus were faring far better than Castor was, but there was still great concern.

Another one of the delegates, Babajide Akingbade from Uganda, spoke up then.

“So many children were affected… And three were nearly Kissed.” He shook his head slowly, looking up at Juliana. “Harry Hartford… That boy, he is the one who..?”

“He was known as Harry Potter before his adoption by Fiona and Gideon Hartford in 1987.” She nodded. “As of right now, Harry is under the care of Lady Narcissa Malfoy, but I also have a claim to him, as given to the both of us by the Hartfords in the summer of 1992.”

Babajide nodded a bit, running a hand over his hair. “...And this Torrance boy, is he..?”

“The healers at St. Mungo’s do not believe he will make it through the night.”

More disturbed murmurs filled the room, which is when Fudge rose to his feet, his face flushed in indignation.

“I have done what I thought was best to catch a notorious criminal.” He declared, his voice filled with venom. “Who’s very escape means that an innocent child’s life is at risk-”

“And instead, you’ve made a school that is already dangerous, even more dangerous.” Juliana interrupted, staring him down. “Harry was nearly killed by Quirinus Quirrell in his first year, having to go and rescue Draco Malfoy from the man in question. Last year, he was accused of being the Heir of Slytherin, ostracized along with the rest of his house, and then had to deal with the brutal slaughter of the only family he had ever known.”

“And then, after all of that, you and Albus Dumbledore had Dementors placed around Hogwarts. Harry was lucky. That brilliant, kind young man has a heart the size of a lake, and yet he has been punished for existing every year he has gone to that school.”

Romanova laughed, shaking her head. “The Contessa has a point, Minister. Ever since Albus Dumbledore has become Headmaster of Hogwarts, more and more families choose to send their children to foreign schools. This year alone, Koldovstoretz has received twenty-seven students from the United Kingdom.”

“Albus has done nothing to-” Fudge tried to protest, but he was quickly drowned out by the angered shouts of the other delegates. After a few minutes, Juliana held out her hands, quieting them all without having to say a word.

“As much as I hate to say this… I believe the British Wixen have chosen the wrong man for their leader.” She said softly, looking around the room at the gathered wixen. “And they have allowed the wrong man to lead the education of their children. I do not ask you for much, my fellow leaders, but in the interest of protecting innocents, I this of you…”

“Please, remove Cornelius Fudge and Albus Dumbledore from their positions of power, for the sake of the students of Hogwarts, because the gods only know that they cannot take much more of this.”

Babajide nodded, rising from his seat. “For all those in favor of the immediate removal of Minister Cornelius Oswald Fudge, raise your hands.”

One by one, hand after hand rose into the air, until all but Fudge himself had their hands raised.

Even his fellow British delegates had turned on him.

Juliana nodded, a small smile on her face. “Then the motion is carried. An emergency election will be carried out in order to find the next Minister of Magic. Now… Our second matter?”

“Yes, of course.” Babajide replied with a chuckle. “And all for the removal of Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore?”

And when every hand stayed in the air, she let out a sigh of relief.

Silver. Fucking. Platter.

—

With the horrifying tragedy that occurred at Hogwarts earlier this week, involving what could only be described a pack of Dementors descending upon hundreds of unwitting students, the International Confederation of Wizards, temporarily run by Italian Contessa Juliana Zabini and Ugandan President Babajide Akingbade, held a meeting in the Italian Parliament, wherein they voted to remove both Cornelius Fudge and Albus Dumbledore from their respective positions due to their involvement in the Dementors being placed around Hogwarts.

While they were placed there in efforts to protect the student body from escaped criminal Sirius Black, the guards of Azkaban were far more dangerous than anyone could have expected, deciding to feast upon the happiness of children enjoying a game of Quidditch instead of their duties.

Something which, many parents agree, is completely unacceptable.

No statements have been made by the two men involved, nor much from any ICW delegates, although the Contessa came to us here at the Daily Prophet herself to deliver this notice.

“While I understand that this decision may seem brash and frightening for many of you, it is not one that we are taking lightly.” She said simply. “Innocent lives were put in danger, and it is the children who are paying the price for the mistakes of the adults who are supposed to protect them.”

The Contessa Juliana Zabini has always been a fighter when it comes to the rights of students and children, and that is very visible in how Tanaquilla Academy is run, and while I am not an opinion writer, I believe that many of the ideals held by the staff at Tanaquilla would be a welcome addition at Hogwarts.

The school hosts a summer housing program, for students who do not feel as though it is safe for them to return home during the holidays, and even goes out of its way to help make sure that every student has the care and support that is needed via private funding from the Contessa herself, as well as many scholarships that are offered to students upon graduation, so they can pursue their Masteries without any financial issues.

While no further statements have been made, it can be safe to assume that the staff changes taking place at the Ministry, and at Hogwarts, will be made by New Year’s Eve, and we will be starting the new year with a bit of an overhaul.

And while that may be frightening for some, in the end, change is necessary for growth, and only time will tell how the changes will affect us in the end.

-

Severus’ heart was pounding as he set his copy of the Daily Prophet down, looking down the staff table at Dumbledore, who was peacefully adding jelly to a piece of toast, completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Should he warn the man?

Did he even deserve a warning?

He knowingly put the students in danger by allowing Fudge to put the Dementors on campus, and they nearly lost many of them to the beasts because of it.

But being ousted from the school entirely?

It felt… Strange.

Dumbledore had always been there. He’d been the headmaster for nearly fifty years, and nearly every single person in the room at that moment had been taught by him in some way, shape, or form.

And now he was being removed.

Lupin grabbed the newspaper off the table once he realized that Severus had set it down, and judging from the way the wolf sucked in a sharp, horrified breath, he was having the same realization that he had.

What was Hogwarts without Albus Dumbledore?

None of them knew.

And the longer Severus stared at the old man, the less he knew what to do.

It almost felt like watching a muggle nature documentary, staring at the rabbit that was being stalked by the hungry wolf.

There was nothing he could do to prevent what was about to happen, because it was beyond his control, and while he didn’t particularly like Dumbledore at this point… It was still morbid.

The doors to the Great Hall burst open then, and his eyes were met with the sight of the Contessa herself, striding down the hall with an expression of pure disgust on her face. Behind her were six wixen dressed in all black, their faces shrouded by masks, and their wands held tightly at their sides.

Dumbledore looked up, his mouth pulling into a thin line as he rose to his feet.

“Contessa Zabini. I must say, it’s a surprise to see you here once again. What can I do for you?” He asked, raising a brow as he stared at her over his half-moon spectacles.

“Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.” The Contessa began. “As ordered by the International Confederation of Wizards, and the British Ministry of Magic, you are to vacate the Hogwarts premises by the end of the day, as your tenure as Headmaster has been completed.”

Severus’ gaze flicked over to the Slytherin table, which was far sparser than the rest of the room due to a majority of the house’s members being in St. Mungo’s at the moment. The members of Hartford’s friend group that were still at the school were all watching the Contessa with wide eyes, but even he could see Greengrass and Nott carefully slide their wands into their hands, ready to jump in and join the fray should the need arise.

Did they really think that Dumbledore would lash out? With all the students in the room?

…Actually, it’s very possible that he would. They were right to be concerned.

“I see… And why has-”

“You do not get to ask questions, Albus.” She shook her head. “The Aurors will escort you to your quarters so you may gather up your personal effects, but your presence must be gone from this campus by sundown.”

Dumbledore sighed a bit, but nodded, smiling at her in the genial way he always did when it was a thinly veiled threat. “...I understand. But don’t worry, I don’t need an escort.”

With that, the old man walked around the head table and through the staff door, immediately being trailed by half of the Aurors that the Contessa had brought with her. Once he was gone, she made her way up to the podium, standing behind it as she offered the students a smile.

“My apologies for interrupting your breakfast. I am sure you all have plenty of questions that you want answers to, however… Certain things must be discussed with your professors.” She explained. “As such, all of your classes have been canceled for the day. Please, enjoy yourselves, but stay within the castle until the Dementors have been properly herded back to Azkaban prison.”

An anxious murmur spread across the students at that, but, they rose without much complaint, beginning to file out of the room. Greengrass, Nott, Longbottom, Lovegood, and Granger all hesitated, however, with the five of them all quickly approaching the Contessa with worried expressions.

Severus couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but once the older woman spoke again, he understood.

“He is fine.” The Contessa reassured them. “Harry has not yet woken up, but he is making a fine recovery. He will be alright, I promise you.”

“You’re sure he’ll be okay?” Nott asked quietly, biting his thumb nail.

“Absolutely.”

It took a few more moments of reassurances that their friend was alright, and the promise of taking the students to go and see Harry as soon as it was safe to do so, before the small flock of students hurried out of the Great Hall as well, leaving only the group of professors, the Italian Contessa, and three ready-for-battle Aurors standing there.

Once she was sure the children were all completely out of earshot, she turned to look at the professors, a smile that could only be described as barely contained rage spread across her face.

“Alright… As I am the one spearheading this campaign, I will be the one to answer any questions that you have, and explain the new procedures you will need to follow. So, will one of you show me to your staff room?”

“...Of course, Contessa.” Severus nodded, quickly rising to his feet.

“Thank you, Professor Snape.”

And, after a moment's hesitation, the rest of the professors followed as well, letting themselves be led through the halls of the castle so the Contessa could deliver them to their fate.

Which, judging by the smile she’d had on her face, likely was not going to be very pleasant for any of them.

—

The alert chart next to Healer Magshaw’s desk flashed four times, catching her attention as she looked away from the stack of paperwork on her desk, her eyes flicking across the chart to figure out which of her patients was needing help.

To her surprise, however, it was the one patient that she hadn’t been expecting to be awake so soon.

Harry Hartford.

She’d been in charge of him once before, just barely half a year ago, so she knew that the boy simply needed to sleep off the injuries he had sustained as his magic, and the magic the healers provided, did the work needed to piece the boy’s body back together.

Although, the speed with which he had awakened worried her.

There was no possible way the boy was already healed enough to be awake, much less up and moving.

Healer Magshaw pushed herself up and out of her chair, heading out of her office and into the hallway, heading towards Harry’s room. She wasn’t in a massive hurry, it usually took wixen in his condition over an hour to fully awaken after being magically drained the way he had, even without the exhaustion and strain that a Dementor attack of that magnitude would put on a person’s body.

Which is why her heart felt like it stopped in her chest when she looked up and saw the boy standing in front of her, hair wild and stuck to his face with sweat and blood.

There was a thick coating of the stuff oozing out of his mouth and nose, dripping down over the front of his hospital pajamas, and landing in heavy droplets on the floor in front of him.

And then there were his eyes.

They were glowing.

A brilliant, bright green that seemed unnatural, even for a wizard.

And, after a moment, she noticed a similarly brilliant emerald glow ebbing from his middle finger on his left hand, pulsing in time with his heartbeat.

However, her attention was pulled back to his eyes as his head tilted, ever so slightly, like an animal trying to focus on it's prey.

They stared into her soul, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly as he took ragged breaths.

“Where…” Harry said softly, his voice raspy and rough. “Where is…”

Healer Magshaw couldn’t move, she couldn’t speak. All she could do was stare at him with wide, panicked eyes.

“Where… Is… Theo..?” He eventually grunted out. “...Daph… Lue… Dray… Blaise… Nev…”

It took a moment for the names to register in her mind, but once they did, she relaxed.

“Your friends?”

He nodded a bit.

“They’re not here, sweetheart…” Healer Magshaw said softly, slowly making her way over to the bloody boy and grabbing his hands, starting to lead him back to his room. “But you need to rest… Your body is still healing, Harry, and you can’t see them until you’re better. Okay?”

Harry nodded the slightest bit, letting out a small, pained grunt as he took another step.

“I know, I know.” She nodded, helping him sit back down before she grabbed her wand, cleaning the blood off of him and running a few diagnostic charms before she helped him lay down.

Strangely enough… There was nothing different about the information that she was given. No new injuries, no sudden turns for the worst…

It was just, strange.

He shouldn’t have been bleeding the way he was without there being something wrong, and yet, there was nothing.

“Are you feeling alright, Harry?” Healer Magshaw asked gently, smoothing back his hair as she studied his, now softly, glowing eyes.

“...Yes.” He said after a moment, his voice sounding a bit off. “I’m… Fine…”

“Good, good… Why were you out of bed..?”

“Castor…”

“Castor? What about him?”

“I fixed him.”

She blinked a few times at that, before a soft chuckle escaped her.

“...Thank you for that, Harry, but leave the healing to us, alright? We can take care of Castor just fine.”

“...He was gone, but I fixed him. You’re welcome…” Harry slurred a bit, before his head fell to the side and he was unconscious again. That, caused her to hesitate. What did he mean ‘he was gone’?

That’s… An ominous statement.

She felt her chest tighten as a wave of fear washed over her, quickly pulling away from Harry’s bedside and rushing down the hall to Castor Torrance’s room, her heart pounding as she headed over to his side and began casting diagnostic charms on the sleeping boy.

And what she saw made absolutely no sense.

Status: Rapidly Recovering..?

What did that mean?

As the charms continued, and she was given more and more information, the truth of the situation began to dawn on her.

Castor had finally succumbed to the effects of the Dementor’s Kiss, but something had brought him back from the brink, forcing life back into him.

And judging by the small pool of blood, that connected to the trail that led out of his hospital room, and back towards Harry’s..?

It painted a very, very clear picture.

The younger boy had somehow brought his classmate back to life, and he likely had no idea how he did it either.

Which made that fact so, so much more horrifying than it should have been.

Chapter Text

Hogwarts felt like it existed in a strange little time loop.

Classes were canceled for a little over a week, leaving the students to their own devices, which caused more than a few issues to occur.

As a result, it was agreed by all members of staff, and the ICW Aurors who were still guarding the campus, that they should be let down to Hogsmeade as much as possible that week, and temporary permission slips were even sent by owl to the parents of the first and second years to allow them down as well, since many students were still recovering at St. Mungo’s.

And even though it wasn’t going to be a permanent change, it was still needed so the kids could try and decompress after the chaos that had disrupted their education.

Which was why Neville, Theo, Daphne, Luna, and Astoria, who was waiting for her friends to exit Zonko’s after having a dungbomb set off in her face and needing to leave for a bit, were all sitting in a booth in the Three Broomsticks, quietly poring over the Marauder’s Map, and watching the dots of their professors shuffle around the corridors.

Luna sat up a bit more to look at the map at a different angle, holding Harry’s bag against her chest as she did so. After he was rushed to the hospital, she had gone to get it from his dorm room, and hadn’t let it out of her sight since.

“It’s still so strange to see…” Theo murmured, sipping his butterbeer. “The school looking so empty.”

“I know, right?” Neville frowned, shaking his head with a sigh. “And not having Harry, Blaise, or Draco here… It bugs me. Feels like an itch on the back of my neck that won’t go away.”

“...Do we have separation anxiety?”

“Trauma bond, and covenant induced separation anxiety.” Daphne hummed, her gaze flicking across the parchment. “We’ve all dealt with so much terrifying sh-” She paused, looking at her little sister before correcting herself. “-hhhrap. Crap, that we feel weird when we aren’t in each other’s immediate line of sight.”

“Plus, considering the fact that we know that three of our best friends nearly died, with two recovering at home and one still in the hospital, we’re all a little on edge.”

“Brains are weird.”

“Very weird.”

Astoria looked at them in confusion. “What’s a trauma bond?”

“A very, very complicated brain thing that happens when you and your friends go through a lot of very scary things together.” Daphne replied.

“Oh, like when you and Harry helped that unicorn give birth?”

“Exactly. The stress of that caused us to bond, and now we co-parent a baby unicorn.”

“Okay.”

Theo hid a snicker behind his hand, quickly holding them up when the girl shot a glare at him, before turning back to the map, a sigh escaping him.

“...That’s odd.” Neville murmured, tilting his head as he set down his mug of butterbeer. “There’s someone up in Gryffindor Tower. The third year dormitories.”

“What?” Daphne asked, her eyes wide as she leaned over to look at where her friend was pointing.

Sure enough, in the third year boy’s dorms was a single name, one that sounded oddly familiar…

Peter Pettigrew.

“Pettigrew… Why does that name sound familiar..?” She asked quietly, which is when Astoria spoke up.

“The Pettigrews are an offshoot family of the Macmillans.” Her little sister hummed, sipping her drink. “Like, five generations separated, from Berenice Macmillan marrying Arthur Pettigrew.”

Theo blinked a few times, staring at her. “Do you just, know that off the top of your head?”

“Tori can probably tell you the genealogy of everyone at this table.” Daphne said, pride leaking into her voice. “Our mother had her learn the family tree of every Noble and Ancient House. Something about… Oh, what is it that she always says? The thing she says whenever she wants us to do something ladylike?”

“If a man is the head of the family, then his wife is the neck and shoulders. The head is useless without her.” Astoria nodded, kicking her feet a bit.

“Right. So… Pettigrew, offshoot of the Macmillans… Who’s Peter, then?”

Neville frowned, his eyes flicking around the room as the gears visibly turned in his mind.

“...Wasn’t… Wasn’t Peter Pettigrew the man who Sirius Black killed..?” He asked quietly, his voice shaking a bit as the realization hit. “The one who only had his index finger left behind..?”

“That’s exactly right.” Luna nodded, startling the rest of the group. She had been sitting in relative silence the entire time they’d been in the pub, just listening to their conversations as she studied the names on the map, so her sudden speech was a bit jarring. “...And he never had any children.”

“So… Why would his name be showing up on the map?” Theo frowned, looking at his friends. “Because it does work on animals, and it doesn’t get fooled by Harry’s invisibility cloak…”

“Animagi are also visible.” Daphne chimed in. “Professor McGonagall still shows up when she turns into a cat.”

“Right, yeah… So why would Peter Pettigrew show up on the map? He’s supposed to be dead.”

“...Only finding a finger doesn’t prove he actually died.” Astoria murmured. “And… Wasn’t his finger… Uhm… Cleanly cut off..?”

Luna nodded slowly, her expression turning oddly worried as the three older students shared a look of fear.

Things weren’t adding up here.

And they had more questions than answers.

“...We should go back up to the castle.” Neville declared after a moment. “Uhm… Regroup, and… Try to figure out what this all means.”

Not a single one of them objected to that idea, quickly putting the map back into its dormant state, leaving some galleons on the counter for Madam Rosmerta, and packing everything up so they could hustle back to the school.

Before they left, Daphne sent Astoria back towards Zonko’s with a kiss on the forehead, and a promise to fill her in when she and her friends came back from the village. Once her little sister was out of sight, she took off after her own friends, who were waiting halfway up the hill for her.

They had some research to do, and a few letters to write.

—

“So he’s alright?” Lucius asked softly, his shoulders slumping with relief as he looked up at Healer Magshaw, Narcissa’s hand clutching his like a lifeline as tears slipped down her cheeks.

Miraculously, late last night, Harry had woken up, and from what the healer was telling them, he seemingly had no lasting effects from nearly being Kissed.

“He’s perfectly fine.” The woman nodded, her expression tight as she looked at the two of them. “Besides a still replenishing drain on his magic, which should be fixed by the end of the week, Harry is as healthy as a horse.”

“Thank the gods…” Narcissa said softly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

The Dementor attack, and the subsequent media fire that had happened afterwards, had shaken the British wixen to their core. The knowledge that their children were not as safe as they had been promised while at school terrified many people, and there had been a rush of attempts to pull students from the school to transfer them somewhere else.

The only reason those attempts stopped was due to Juliana’s influence, and the multiple press releases she had made to reassure the terrified parents, telling them exactly what was going on at Hogwarts.

A welcome change from the secrecy and lies that Dumbledore had fostered.

For the remaining term, Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall would become the Headmistress, and depending on how she felt about the career shift by the end of the school year, she would either stay on, or she would go back to being the Transfiguration Professor, and a hand-selected Headmaster would come to join the school.

And, until that decision was made, one of the professors from Koldovstoretz had kindly agreed to come and fill in as a temporary staff member, and promised to help find another qualified professor if McGonagall chose to stay as the Headmistress.

The emergency election was going on as well, with many of the Ministry Department Heads in the running. From what Lucius had said, it seemed like Madam Bones, head of the DMLE, would likely be the one elected, due to how seriously she’d been taking the issues at hand.

And, considering how much Amelia genuinely cared for the safety of the average person, and not just approval ratings, Narcissa was confident that she was the perfect Minister-Elect.

Lucius turned to her, cupping her cheeks and kissing her forehead. “I’ll go and get Draco and Blaise from the Manor. They’ll be happy to see him well again.”

“I’ll go and sit with him.” She smiled a bit, leaning up to press a kiss to her husband’s lips before he pulled away, rushing down the corridor with what most people would think was a brisk walk, but that Narcissa knew was him hurrying as quickly as his dignity would allow.

She turned back towards Healer Magshaw, a smile on her face, before it faltered.

The other woman’s expression was grim, her eyes shadowed as they stared at one another.

“Lady Malfoy… Before you go to see Harry, we need to talk. In private.”

“...Why?” Narcissa asked quietly, following the healer into her office with a frown. She sat behind her desk, directing her to sit as well, which she immediately did, folding her hands in her lap as they studied each other.

“Last night… Harry did something that I can’t reasonably explain.” Healer Magshaw said softly. “Truth be told, every time he’s here, he does something I can’t explain, but… This was different.”

“What do you mean? Is he-”

“He’s perfectly fine, it’s just… What do you know about Dementor’s Kisses?”

She frowned more, wringing her hands a bit before she spoke again.

“...I know that it strips the soul from a person’s body, and once the Dementor consumes it, the soul is gone. Permanently. The person who was Kissed can’t even come back as a ghost.”

“Exactly. The soul is destroyed. Castor Torrance was left with only a third of his soul, and he was rapidly losing what little he had left.” The healer explained. “It was trickling from his body with every single breath he took.”

“I’m, sorry… What does this have to do with Harry?”

“Because, somehow, Harry fixed his soul.”

Narcissa blinked a few times. Fixed Castor’s soul? How was that… How was that possible?

“He… What?”

Healer Magshaw nodded a bit, running a hand through her hair with a sigh.

“It hasn’t been released to the papers yet, but… Lord Alastor Torrance, Castor’s father… He dropped dead last night.” She said quietly. “He was downstairs, getting a cup of tea for himself so he could stay up with his son, and he just… He dropped. I only found out after I took Harry back to his bed, and went to check on Castor.”

“It was like a switch flipped in the boy. He went from the brink of death to… To perfectly fine. We’re releasing him to his mother later this afternoon, because we can’t find a damn thing wrong with him.”

Narcissa stared at her, unable to truly process what she was saying.

Then, she sucked in a sharp breath.

“Were his eyes glowing?” She asked quietly, sitting up more.

“Uh-” The healer nodded a bit, her eyes widening in surprise. “They were, yes. How… How did you know..?”

“I… I need to go and speak with Harry. I’m sorry, I cannot explain more at this time.” She shook her head, standing up and rushing out of the office, heading down the corridor and to the boy in question’s room.

While she hadn’t seen the glowing for herself, the description that Draco and the rest of their friends had given her after the incident in the Chamber of Secrets immediately came to mind.

Harry, with glowing emerald eyes, performing acts of magic far beyond what a twelve year old boy could reasonably muster.

And now, it happened again. He brought a boy from the brink of death, at the cost of the boy’s father.

An eye for an eye. Soul for a soul.

“...Because Death doesn’t like what rightfully belongs to her to be taken away…” Narcissa murmured, a shudder running through her as she remembered the line her mother would always add to her telling of the Tale of Three Brothers.

When she made it to Harry’s room, her shoulders sagged in relief at the sight of Harry sitting up in bed, chatting quietly with one of the hospital’s house elves, a tray of food in his lap. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and before either of them said anything, the elf popped away, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

“Hi, Narcissa.” He said softly, reaching his hand out for her. She immediately moved to his side, grabbing his hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“Hello, Harry dear… How are you feeling?”

“Tired, but… Better. A lot better.” He chuckled, running a hand through his hair once Narcissa let it go. “...So… What have I missed while I’ve been unconscious? Because something tells me a lot has happened, and I’m a little miffed that I haven’t gotten to see it.”

She laughed a bit at that, the relief of knowing that he was okay easing her worries about what happened with Castor enough that she could speak freely.

Even if Harry had unlocked some sort of unknown magic, he was still himself, and that was what she cared most about in that moment.

They could talk about that later.

For now, she just needed to fill him in on everything he’d missed while he’d been in recovery, because she wouldn’t get a chance as soon as Draco and Blaise arrived.

Harry began to eat the soup that the house elf had brought for him, giving Narcissa a moment to gather her thoughts so she could figure out exactly how she wanted to explain the madness that had erupted in the past week.

“Well… Juliana is on a warpath, and I imagine that it will only end when the Ministry has been burnt to the ground and rebuilt by her own two hands…”

—

There were very, very few things in this world that truly frightened Remus. At least, things that weren’t common, understandable fears.

He was afraid of the full moon because of his condition, he had a fear of falling due to taking a tumble off of a broom from rather high up in his first year, and he had a lingering anxiety about motorcycles because of how much they reminded him of Him.

But, as he sat in the staff room, stuck in the middle of another meeting as the professors and the Contessa attempted to put Hogwarts back together, he discovered a brand new fear he had never expected.

He was completely and utterly terrified of the Contessa Juliana Zabini.

Not because she was violent, or aggressive, or anything like that. No, she was so much worse.

She was quiet in her anger, and she could lie through her teeth better than anyone he had ever met, while her eyes displayed every thought that ran through her mind.

And maybe it was because with the coming full moon, his senses were very, very much heightened, but…

She was beautiful, and fucking terrifying.

Especially as she sat there, laying into Madam Hooch for not stopping the game of Quidditch when one of the players was nearly struck by lightning.

Remus was very, very glad that he was not the one on her shit list at that moment.

“You act as though I committed some sort of horrible crime by not calling the game!” Hooch snapped as she paced back and forth, her face twisted up in anger. “They weren’t in any real danger until those damn Dementors showed up!”

“A student was nearly struck by lightning, Rolanda.” The Contessa replied, sipping the cappuccino that Severus had made for her. “However, the game should have been canceled. Even professional games are put on hold when the weather is as foul as it was.”

“They were fine!”

“They most certainly were not fine, and if you continue that foolish line of thinking, I will lose all sense of decorum I am still clinging to, and I will fling this coffee onto you. My son was playing in that game, Rolanda. If he had been struck by lightning- if any of them, had been struck by lightning, we would be having a much different conversation.”

Minerva cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention over to her.

“...I believe it would be a fine idea for us to move on from this subject.” She said softly. “As this conversation is getting nowhere, and I fear we may descend into violence if it keeps going on.”

“A good point, Minerva.” The Contessa nodded, sitting up again and setting her cup down. “What part of the list were we on again?”

After a moment of shuffling parchments, the headmistress spoke again.

“Next on the agenda is… Ah, yes.” Minerva nodded, looking up at Remus. “Additions to the Defense Against the Dark Arts curriculum.”

He gulped, nearly choking on his hot chocolate, but quickly sat up again.

“A-alright. What are we adding?” He asked, looking between the two older women.

“I would like for you to teach the Patronus Charm to your students.” The Contessa nodded. “Every year group. It is more than fine if not all of them can get it, as the Dementors have been removed from the campus, but I refuse to allow something like this to happen again. Every student must be prepared.”

Remus paused, before he hummed in agreement. “It would be good to know that, if there were to be a Dementor attack, the students could defend themselves properly… Do you have any recommendations as to how it should be done?”

“Do it the way you did the Boggart practical. Use the staff room, and have everyone practice. Daphne would be willing to help you, if you asked.”

“Ah, yes, Miss Greengrass.” Minerva chuckled. “She was as brave as one of my Gryffindors that day… Although, I can’t say I approve of her colorful language when she did so.”

“It did get Lupin moving.” Filius hummed thoughtfully. “I think the shock of being cursed out by a thirteen year old girl would startle anyone into action. Especially a fearsome young woman like Miss Greengrass.”

“Exactly right.” Remus laughed softly, shaking his head, lighting up a bit when he saw the Contessa crack a smile. “But yeah, I’ll absolutely add in a Patronus lesson.”

“Wonderful… Oh, Minerva, there was something you wanted to ask of Remus?” She asked, looking over at the headmistress.

“Ah, yes.” Minerva nodded. “Remus, would you be willing to take over as Gryffindor’s Head of House? I understand if you feel like your… Condition will make it difficult for you to take on that level of responsibility.”

“However, I know how much you care for your students, and if you can manage that, even with everything else going on, I believe you’ll make an excellent Head.”

“Exactly!” Pomona laughed a bit. “Even Severus agrees that you would make a good Head of House.”

His eyes widened a bit, and he turned to look at the Slytherin, who was pointedly looking away from him and sipping from his cup of coffee.

“I… Thank you.” Remus said softly. “I would be honored to take up that position. I can only hope I do even half as good a job as you did, Minerva.”

The Contessa hummed a bit. “Thank you for taking that off of our plate, Remus. That allows us to move on to the next subject… The wards of Hogwarts, and how easily they can be broken.”

“Surely the wards aren’t that broken?” Bathsheda Babbling, the Ancient Runes Professor asked. “I mean… The Headmaster is supposed to renew them every single year. Albus always said that he did.”

“If the wards had been renewed, Bathsheda, a troll would not have been able to enter the campus two years ago. Nor would that accursed diary from last year.” She drawled in a way that sounded almost perfectly like Severus, startling the man a bit and making him stare at her in mild shock. “If you go and check the wardstone in the back of the Headmaster’s office, you’ll find that it is significantly weaker than it should be.”

“...How much weaker?” Aurora asked, a frown on her face.

“Weak enough that the accidental wards most muggleborn children put on their homes are stronger than the ones that surround Hogwarts.”

Bathsheda shot up from her seat, her face almost grey with shock.

“I need to go look at the wardstone.” She said quickly, turning to Minerva. “Can you come with me?”

The headmistress nodded. “Of course, Bathsheda. Juliana, do you mind if we..?”

“Adjourn this meeting? Not at all. We can continue later.” The Contessa nodded, standing up as well. “I must return home for the evening anyways.”

“Tomorrow, then?” Filius offered.

“That works for me. See you all tomorrow evening.”

Before anyone could say more, the Contessa strode out of the room, her robes billowing behind her, and it was like a sigh of relief escaped the room.

“...She’s an incredible woman.” Pomona said softly. “But goodness gracious, I would never want to be on her bad side. Just seeing her lay into Rolanda like that…”

“Trust me, that was her being kind.” Severus sighed, standing up and brushing off his robes. “She was containing herself. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I have to make sure the Pepper Up potions have set correctly.”

“And I need to go work on the Patronus Practical plans…” Remus nodded, rising from his seat and following Severus out of the room. After a moment, a slight grin formed on his face, and he spoke again. “So… Any advice on being a Head of House-”

“Make sure your students know they can trust you, but also have a firm hand with them.” The other man said immediately. “That is Minerva’s one pitfall. She follows rules too strictly, but is blind whenever her lions cause trouble.”

“But… You favor your Slytherins far more than any of the other houses?”

“Because they receive enough punishment just for being a Slytherin. When they have done something truly deserving of punishment, it is dealt with within my office. I will never abuse my power with them.”

Remus paused, before a scoff escaped him. “But you will with anyone else?”

“...Not if they prove themselves as seeing beyond the house rivalries. Something that you and your band of… Marauders, could never seem to do.” Severus said coldly. “So, yes. If protecting my snakes means I have to be a cruel bastard to everyone else, then I will be the goddamned Devil himself. And I will do it with the same glee your precious James Potter had whenever he chose to hex a Slytherin, or have you forgotten just how cruel that man could be?”

He flinched a bit at the harshness of the man’s tone, but stopped in his tracks, staring after Severus as he briskly walked away, nearly disappearing down the hallway before he could muster up the courage to speak again.

“...James wasn’t cruel. He was only a child, we all were.”

That made his fellow professor stop, glaring at Remus over his shoulder.

“And yet, the simple act of not being a Gryffindor was such a heinous crime in his eyes, that he would nearly kill a fellow student?”

…Remus didn’t have anything to say to that, so he didn’t, just… Watching helplessly as Severus disappeared around the corner, his anger so strong it was palpable even as he got further and further away.

Had it all really been that bad..?

It couldn’t have gotten so far without him noticing.

…Could it?

Chapter Text

A thick blanket of snow covered the ground outside, turning the entire St. Mungo’s courtyard into a white wonderland. It was almost like a scene from an old movie, with everything in black and white, all color being erased from the world as the first signs of proper winter settled in.

The weather had been foul for so long, it was no surprise that the first snow of the year was as heavy as it was.

Harry sighed a bit as he stared at it from the window of his room, fully dressed and waiting for Narcissa and Lord Malfoy to finish signing him out.

He’d been stuck in the hospital for a few weeks as his body fully recovered, because when they were originally going to release him, his healers had discovered a severe tremor in his right hand and balance issues that made it difficult for him to walk, causing him to have to stay and go on another harsh potion regimen to clear it up.

The tremor was mostly gone now, only returning when he bent his fingers too far back, and his balance had all but righted itself, so he was finally, thankfully, being cleared to go home.

Although… His mind was still reeling a bit, and the secrets he’d been keeping from Narcissa were still bothering him.

He didn’t tell her anything about what he’d done for Castor.

He lied to her and told her that he didn’t know what happened, that he was glad his friend was okay, but he was devastated about the fact that his father had died so suddenly, right as his son was getting better.

There was a very, very good chance that Narcissa didn’t believe a word that fell out of his lying mouth, but, she hadn’t called him on any of it, so he was counting it as a temporary win.

But… He did know what happened. He remembered every bit of the conversation he’d had with the red haired man.

How the man had told him how flighty Death was. How it didn’t care much for whose soul it had anymore, just as long as it could take a soul.

And that Castor’s soul was still intact, even just barely.

“A soul can be rebuilt for a price, Harry, because the soul is not yet gone.” The red haired man had said, his gaze gentle and sorrowful. “But the price will have to be paid, and you will have no control over whose soul must be sacrificed to rebuild another.”

…It almost frightened him how easily he had agreed to save Castor. How little hesitation he had.

Upon finding out that Castor’s father had been the one who died, it terrified him. Fate had a way of being cruel, and while Harry had found himself relieved that no one he directly knew had been taken as payment for his meddling, the realization that next time, he could lose someone he truly loves?

It crept into his heart and sunk its claws in, reminding him that if he lost even one more person, it might break him fully.

Completely beyond repair.

So, he swore that he would never do such a thing again. He swore that he would never put the people he loves at risk like that, giving Death an opening to take them away as he tried to save the lives of others, stripping away what kept him human.

That power, that magic… He would never use it again.

He shuddered, wrapping his arms around himself as he leaned his head up against the window, his eyes falling shut as the cold glass pressed against his forehead.

The gentle thrum of the Peverell ring’s magic pulsed through his arm, like a gentle hand was rubbing up and down it, trying to comfort him as much as it could. It knew how afraid he was, the mixed feelings he had about what he had done.

…At least it was apologetic about teaching him how to do it. It had that going for him, at least.

“Harry?” Lord Malfoy asked gently, pulling his attention away from the land outside and over to the blonde man standing in the doorway. Harry offered him a small smile, and a nod.

“Time to go?”

“It is. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m just… Thinking, I suppose.”

“Sickle for your thoughts?” The older man asked, walking over and standing next to him.

“...Just… Thinking about Castor, and… How he’s alive again.” He sighed. “And the fact that his father-”

“Harry. Don't… Don’t dwell on it.” Lord Malfoy shook his head. “Whatever forces caused that to happen… They made the correct choice. Yes, it was tragic, and yes, Castor woke up to learn that his father is dead, but… As a father myself, I can tell you that is exactly what Alastor would have wanted.”

“What, to be dead?”

“For his son to live, even if that meant he had to die.”

He blinked a few times at that, looking over at Lord Malfoy in confusion. The man in question chuckled a bit, giving him a soft smile.

“You're too young to fully understand, but… Wixen… Many of us struggle to have children.” He explained. “Be it from marriages where both parties have incompatible magic, infertility due to centuries of inbreeding, or just… A string of bad luck, most families are lucky to have two children. While there is very little that I envy the Weasleys for, the fact that they have so many healthy, happy children is one of them.”

“But, for Cissa and I… That just, wasn’t the case, and it isn’t the case for many couples. It’s why so many of us are so fiercely protective of our children, to the point that the most extreme measures seem easy when their lives are on the line.”

When Lord Malfoy looked over after he finished speaking, he had to bite back a chuckle at the concern and confusion that was obvious on Harry’s face. He paused, deciding to explain it in a way that was a little closer to home.

“When… When your sister, Prue, was born… You felt this overwhelming desire to protect her no matter what, yes?” He asked.

Harry nodded. “Yeah. She was… She was so small, and defenseless, I… I would have done anything to protect her.”

“Exactly.” He hummed. “Now… Imagine that, for some reason, Prue was sick, and dying, and someone came to you and told you that they could heal her of all of her illnesses, and that she would live a healthy, happy life. The only catch? You had to die.”

“...Without a second thought.” He replied softly, his eyes widening with realization. “I would have died for that. I would have died for that in a heartbeat.”

“And that is exactly what good parents feel for their children.” Lord Malfoy said softly, resting his hand on Harry's shoulder. “...I am not a good man, I can admit that. I have never been a good man, but… I like to think that I am a good father. And if there was ever a reason that… I needed to sacrifice my life for Draco, or you for that matter? I would happily do so.”

Harry chuckled a bit, looking up at him. “...You are a good dad. The fact that you were so willing to take in one of your son’s weird, orphaned friends proves that, Lucius.”

He paused, his eyes widening a bit. “Oh, Harry… You called me Lucius.”

After a brief pause, and a nervous laugh escaping the boy as he turned on his heel, he spoke again.

“Uh… Yeah. It’s… It’s your name… Why wouldn’t I call you by-”

Then, strong arms gently wrapped around him, cradling the back of his head and holding him close.

He hugged back after a moment of hesitation, a small, shuddering breath escaping him as he clung to Lucius’ robes.

“Thank you for trusting me, Harry.” Lucius said softly. “I… It means a lot.”

“It’s nothing. Really. You… You’ve been great.” Harry choked out, biting back tears as the man ran his hand over his hair, smoothing it out a bit before pulling away.

He smiled a bit, wiping the boy’s face with his thumbs. “You’re alright, love. Let’s go see if Narcissa is done with the paperwork, shall we? Then, we’re going to go get lunch.”

“...That sounds really nice, actually.” Harry sniffed, a chuckle escaping him. “Where are we going?”

“Italy. Juliana and Blaise have a reservation at Uliassi for the six of us. It is, apparently, one of the most delicious muggle restaurants they have ever been to.”

“Oh thank god, a muggle restaurant. I need to get out of all the magical stuff for a minute, I feel like my brain is going to explode…”

Lucius let out a soft laugh, resting a hand on his shoulder and leading him out of the hospital room. As they headed back out into a public space, Harry watched as his face became cold and distant, almost like he’d placed a mask over his face to hide his true feelings.

But the way he squeezed his shoulder, one quick, gentle squeeze, reassured him that’s all it was.

A mask.

One designed to hide him from the rest of the world, but never the people he loved, and that included Harry too.

—

“BWAGH-!” Harry yelped as a small, but deceptively heavy body slammed into him at full speed, sending him stumbling backwards and into Draco, who was just barely able to catch him as he wrapped his arms around the little body of his beloved house elf. “Kreacher! You scared me!”

Kreacher’s little hands clung to him desperately, fat tears rolling down his cheeks as Harry righted himself, holding the elf against his chest and walking a bit away from the door so Narcissa and Lucius could come in.

“Kreacher is sorry, Young Master Harry.” The elf wept, burying his face in Harry’s chest as he muffled a few sobs. “Kreacher is simply so, so very relieved that his Young Master is alive and well, he was so, so scared.”

Harry’s chest tightened a bit, and he cooed softly, hugging him a bit tighter and holding him close.

“Oh… I’m so sorry, Kreacher…” He murmured. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Kreacher knows you didn’t, Master Harry, but Kreacher was still afraid… Miss Cissy was very kind and offered for him to come and stay here with her and Mister Malfoy while he waited for Master Harry to get better.”

He chuckled a bit, gently setting Kreacher down and kneeling to his height, grabbing both of his hands in his and pressing their foreheads together.

“Thank you for worrying about me, Kreacher.” Harry said softly. “You’re a brilliant elf. I’m so happy to call you my family.”

“Ohhh… Master Harry is so very kind. But he will not be doing more dangerous things for the rest of the year, no. Kreacher’s poor heart cannot take it.”

“I know, I know. I didn’t mean to get attacked by Dementors, though. So, I think that counts for something.”

“Not at all, not at all! Master Harry should not be doing such risky things, not when he has so many who love him!” Kreacher scolded gently, his brow furrowed. “Kreacher forbids Master Harry from doing anything dangerous for the rest of the year.”

“...Yeah, you know what? That’s fair. I’ll do my best.” He laughed, pulling away slowly and smiling at the elf. “And for what it’s worth, Kreacher? I missed you. A lot.”

Kreacher huffed, but a smile did pull at his lips. “Kreacher missed Master Harry as well. Now, Kreacher must go and finish what he was doing, as it is a surprise for Master Harry and he will not say more.”

Harry didn’t even have a chance to ask any questions before the elf popped away, leaving him still kneeling on the floor.

“...I love that elf so much.” He sighed happily, standing up and smoothing his clothes out a bit, before turning back to his friends, and their adults, with a smile. “Do you guys mind if I go and hunker down in the library?”

“Only if we get to come with you.” Blaise said with a mock glare, to which he held his hands up in a surrender and nodded, letting his friends say a couple of quick ‘see you later’s to their parents before following him down one of the many corridors and to the library. Once safely within, they all let out a sigh of relief, which then made Harry look at them with a serious expression.

“Okay. Spill. You mentioned during lunch that Nev sent you a weird letter while I was still in the hospital?”

“I have it right here.” Draco nodded, grabbing the letter from his pocket and handing it to him. “I haven’t told Mum or Dad yet, we wanted you to know first. It’s… Weird. It’s really weird.”

Harry nodded a bit, making his way over to one of the plush armchairs and settling into it, unfolding the parchment as his friends sat across from him on the sofa and beginning to read.

-

Dray,

I’m sending this to you because I know Harry can’t get any mail right now, and I know if I send this to Blaise, the Contessa will intercept it, and this isn’t something I want to worry her with. Not while she’s doing all this stuff to try and protect us.

We’ve been watching the Map like mad ever since you three fell. It’s basically been our one comfort, but we noticed something really weird.

There’s someone named Peter Pettigrew that’s up in the Gryffindor dorms a lot. Like, constantly. And the few times he’s not up in the dorms, he’s with Ron Weasley.

And sometimes, I see Hermione’s cat chasing him around on the map as well.

I don’t know what to make of it, and it’s kinda freaking me out, because Peter Pettigrew is supposed to be dead. He has a grave, he has an Order of Merlin.

He’s supposed to be dead, but if the map is to be believed, then he’s not, and he’s somehow in the school.

And if Peter Pettigrew isn’t dead, where does that leave us with Sirius Black? Because if he didn’t actually kill Pettigrew, did he kill those muggles?

Is he entirely innocent?

Maybe I’ve been spending too much one on one time with Luna, but she says that there are secrets that we haven’t unlocked yet, and that we’ll find out soon enough. That freaks me out a bit, and I have no idea what the fuck that means.

Sorry for my language, I’d cross it out but at this point, I don’t care.

Let us know when Harry is back home and safe, we’re all worried about him.

Theo sends his love, and wishes that Harry would just be better already because he misses him.

We’ll see you all soon.

Love,

Nev

-

Harry couldn’t fight the small smile that pulled at his lips. He loves his friends so much.

And, he loves Theo.

He closed his eyes, searching for the threads of magic that he knew connected him to Theo, even as far apart as they are, and gently tugged on them, knowing that his boyfriend would feel the slight pull.

Then, he opened them again, looking back down at the parchment in his hands, before he took a deep breath, and tilted his head up to look at his friends.

“...So… If the Map is to be believed, and the Map has yet to be wrong, what are we thinking about this Pettigrew shit?” He asked bluntly, not wanting to beat around the bush. “Because Peter Pettigrew was one of my biological father’s best friends, and if he’s alive, I have a lot of fucking questions for him.”

“It brings up a lot of very, very good questions besides your personal ones.” Blaise sighed. “All of which Neville posed in his letter.”

“And I don’t like the fact that they’re all there, without us, dealing with this.” Draco added, his brow furrowing. “If that really is Pettigrew, and not some… Weirdo who changed his name, then that means the guy might be dangerous somehow.”

“But how would he be up in the Gryffindor dorms?”

Harry paused, sitting up a bit and setting the letter on the coffee table between them, running a hand through his hair as he thought.

“I don’t know how he’s up there, but that freaks me the fuck out, honestly. What kind of freak hangs out in a kid’s dormitory?”

“A pedophile?” Draco shuddered. “Eugh.”

“True. But… Wait.” He frowned, looking back at the letter. “...Why would he be with Weasley all the time? That doesn’t make any sense… How would a grown man..?”

Blaise suddenly sat up, his eyes so wide they looked like they were going to bulge straight out of his skull.

“Oh Merlin’s saggy tits.” He hissed, looking at them. “What if Pettigrew is alive and an Animagus?”

“Don’t you have to register with the Ministry when you become one? And it’s a whole, like, government process to become one?” Harry’s frown deepened at that.

“It’s not hard to get the ingredients you need. You can buy them all at any potions store. Who’s to say he’s not unregistered and just… Hiding out?”

Harry nodded a bit. “That would make sense, but… What would he be-...”

He trailed off, before a sobering realization hit him.

“...Doesn’t Weasley have a pet rat?”

“He does. Mangy old thing.” Draco huffed. “It looks like it died years agooooOH.”

His friend jumped up out of his seat like he’d sat on a tack, his eyes wide and terrified.

“THE RAT.”

“The fucking rat.” Blaise grit out. “We need to write back to them. Now. They need to get Pettigrew and contain him somehow.”

“Let’s go, then.” Harry agreed, shoving himself up out of his seat and taking off out of the library, slipping on one of the rugs and completely biting shit the second they made it into the main sitting room, startling Mrs. Zabini, Lucius, and Narcissa before he shoved himself right back up and kept running.

“Are you alright?!” Mrs. Zabini called after them.

“I’m good! We need to tell our friends to catch a rat!” He shouted right back as he sprinted up the stairs.

Lucius blinked a few times, shaking his head with a sigh. “...Is that a euphemism for something?”

“Knowing our boys?” Narcissa asked. “No. They actually need to catch a rat.”

“...I feel bad for the rat.”

“I do as well.”

-

Nev.

Pettigrew is probably Weasley’s rat.

Get the fucking rat. Please. And thank you.

Don’t kill it just, just get the rat, and bring it with you out of the school.

Blaise, Draco, and Harry

P.S. Harry says ‘tell Theo I love him’.

Disgusting.

—

Neville stared blankly at the piece of parchment in his hand, the letter, written in Blaise’s loopy cursive, gave him very simple instructions.

Get the rat.

Three, simple words, that somehow became the most daunting and difficult task he had ever had to face down, and he helped his friends kill a man last year.

How the hell was he supposed to get the rat?

He looked over his shoulder at the Gryffindor table, spotting Weasley and Hermione whispering fervently at one another, the two of them wearing matching expressions of anger as Finnegan seemingly attempted to break up their fight.

Then, before he was about to stand up to go check on Hermione, who seemed to be near tears, she stood up and slammed her hands on the table.

“He’s just a cat! You can’t expect him to not want to hunt an animal he sees as prey!” She snapped, her voice carrying far more than it usually did in the unusually empty Great Hall.

Weasley jumped up as well, pointing an accusing finger at the girl. “Well if you would have just controlled your wretched little beast, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now! Scabbers wouldn’t be dead if it wasn’t for that awful thing!”

“Crookshanks is not awful! He’s just a cat!”

“He’s a demon!”

“He’s a cat, Ronald! He can’t help it!”

“Oh, just like how you can’t help being a complete know it all who can’t keep her trap-”

Neville flinched as a loud, painful thunk filled the air. Hermione had punched Weasley so hard that his face was turned completely to the side, and a scarlet welt was already starting to form on his face. She burst into tears, then, pushed herself up out of the table, and took off running out of the Great Hall.

Without a moment of hesitation, he was up and out of his seat as well, following her out without saying a word.

The rat was, probably, dead, which really sucked for whatever his friends needed it for, but there were more pressing matters right that second, and he could deal with that later.

It took him a few minutes to find her, but his gaze softened when he saw her crouched down nearby one of the girl’s bathrooms, sobbing into her arms and seemingly trying to completely shrink away from the rest of the world.

Neville carefully took off his scarf, unfolding the soft, knitted fabric and wrapping it around her as he sat down beside her.

Hermione jolted at the sudden contact, looking over at him with bloodshot, teary eyes.

“H-... Hi, Neville…” She managed after a moment, wiping her face. “I’m sorry, I-...”

“It’s okay.” He replied softly, opening his arms. “...He was being an arse. I’m sorry he said that to you.”

She smiled sadly, scooting closer to him and sinking into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder and sniffling.

“...Thank you…”

“Of course. It’s gonna be okay.” Neville murmured, resting his head on top of hers. “I’ve got you. You don’t need to talk about it if you don’t want to, but… I’m here to listen, if you want.”

“Thank you, Neville…” Hermione nodded a bit, settling onto the floor and curling her legs up, pressing herself against him and just… Clinging to him. “He’s just… He’s a complete arse… And I-... I don’t know why I deal with it…”

Neville nodded slowly, running his hand over the top of her head and smoothing down her hair as he listened to her rant about her ‘friend’, and how much of an utter twat he’d been ever since she got Crookshanks.

He just needed to comfort his friend, because Weasley was completely out of line, and that was a problem he could deal with then. Once Christmas break began in three days, and he and the rest of their friends were reunited, they could figure out the rat problem.

And, hopefully, find a solution to it as well.

—

King’s Cross Station was an entirely different experience when waiting for people to get off the train, Harry quickly learned.

There were dozens of families all squished together, all filled with some level of holiday cheer as they waited for their children to come home, the feeling of relief at knowing they’ll be safely back in the arms of their parents drifting through the air as the clock ticked closer and closer to eleven.

He, himself, was feeling antsy, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for the train. It had been nearly a month since he’d seen most of his friends, as they were all stuck at school while he, Draco, and Blaise were kept away for recovery purposes, and he just wanted to be reunited with them for his own peace of mind.

Was he codependent?

Absolutely.

Did he care?

Not at all.

Narcissa chuckled a bit, resting her hand on his shoulder and giving it a small squeeze. “I know you’re excited, love, but do try and hold it in a bit. You’re sparking.”

He paused, a flush rising on his cheeks as he looked down at his hands. Sure enough, small green sparks were flying off of his fingers, a habit his magic had developed after another hospital visit.

If he was being entirely honest with himself, it was annoying.

“Whoops. Sorry.” Harry murmured, shaking the sparks away, before he looked back up at Narcissa to ask her a question. Before he could speak, however, a strange sensation washed over him.

Magic that was familiar, but… Wrong. Corrupted, somehow.

He looked around, a frown on his face, until he found exactly who he was looking for.

A man, with salt and pepper hair, a stern, somewhat handsome face, and midnight blue eyes.

It was then that the magic made sense.

That was Theo’s father.

…His fucking father, whose magic tasted like rot and bile, and made Harry want to scrub off his skin and rip at the flesh beneath.

“Why is he here?” He asked with a frown, his shoulders squaring instinctively, like he was ready to rush over to the man and try to kick his ass. “Theo’s coming with us for the break.”

Lucius, who was standing just a bit away with Draco, looked up as well.

“...Theron Nott? Merlin’s beard…” He said softly, gently pushing his son over to his mother and coming to stand next to Harry. “This can’t be good. I haven’t seen him outside of Wizengamot meetings since Tierney went missing.”

“Tierney?”

“Theodore’s older brother.” Lucius sighed. “Half brother, I should say. From Theron’s first wife, Anya. Theodore’s mother’s name was Ekatarina. It was a rather big scandal when Tierney disappeared, no one has ever found any trace of him, and most people believe he’s dead.”

He paused for a moment, that knowledge settling over him. He… Hadn’t known what Theo’s mum’s name was, or that he had an older brother. His boyfriend didn’t talk about them, outside of vague comments about his mother, and Harry never wanted to push the matter, just like how he didn’t want to push Neville, Luna, and Blaise about their parents.

And, in turn, they didn’t bother him about Fiona, Gid, and Prue.

Harry shook his head. “I don’t like that he’s here.”

“We’ll keep an eye on him, Harry. Don’t worry.”

He tried to offer the man a small smile, but he could barely muster one, his eyes locked firmly on Theron, and his mind racing as his magic screamed at him.

This man was dangerous. He was a danger to everyone at the station.

He was, especially, a danger to Theo.

And it was taking every ounce of willpower in Harry’s body not to go over there and shove him onto the train tracks.

Before he could weigh the pros and cons of actually doing so, however, the shrill whistle of the train made him snap his head up, his friend’s magic reaching out and wrapping around him in a gentle embrace as the train pulled up to the station, the doors opening and allowing the students to file out.

Most of them went running into their parent’s arms as soon as their feet hit solid ground, excited squealing and chatter filling the air as families were reunited, but all Harry could do was search the crowd, desperate to find his boyfriend and get him away from his father.

His eyes landed on Daphne first, then Astoria, Neville, and Luna…

Theo got off last, and in a moment of horror, he realized that the rest of his friends were all heading towards him.

But he was frozen, staring at his father as he strode over to him, the man’s face twisted up in an expression that Harry could only describe as utter disdain.

And the fear that radiated off of Theo, his Theo, made every hair on his body stand on end.

Without thinking, he strode forward, ripping himself away from the Malfoy’s, shoving past the rest of his friends, and beelining for his boyfriend, ignoring everyone as they called after him in confusion.

He couldn’t make out what the two of them were saying over the chatter in the station, but he could tell that the conversation was becoming heated quickly, even as he was cut off by a gaggle of first years that jumped out of the train.

Then, Harry watched Theo’s face twist up in anger, and something venomous spat out of his mouth, before Theron slapped him right across the face, sending him stumbling and clutching his cheek in shock as he looked at his father, terror evident in his eyes.

It was then that he realized that Theo’s cheek was smoking, and so was his father’s hand.

Like he’d been fucking burned.

He didn’t quite know what happened, the thoughts that ran through his mind, or exactly what magic had reached out to do his bidding, but what he did know was very simple.

If Theron was going to burn Theo, then Theron was going to lose his fucking hand.

As he reached the two Nott’s, his own hand reached out and grabbed hold of his boyfriend’s arm, startling him for only a moment before his eyes widened in recognition and relief, while Harry’s own never left his father, red hot anger flaring in his chest and lashing out as the scent of flames and cinnamon filled his nose.

Or, well, his father’s now severed hand, which was falling limply to the floor as Theron’s face pulled into one of shock.

Harry grinned, a sick, sinister expression that felt strange on his face, before he spoke.

“Next time you even look at him, I’ll kill you.” He growled out. “Patmol.”

Theo yelped in surprise, his arms flinging out and wrapping around Harry’s neck as the two of them were yanked away by the Black portkey, landing right in the entryway of Grimmauld Place. Instinctively, he pulled his boyfriend close, his hand cradling the back of his head as a quiet, shaking voice escaped him.

“Did he just fucking burn you? Did he just-”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Theo murmured, pulling away a bit and gently pressing their foreheads together. “...I’m perfectly fine. It scared me more than it hurt, I promise.”

Harry huffed, gently grabbing his boyfriend’s jaw to look at the hand shaped burn on his cheek, a deep frown forming on his face.

“Kreacher!” He called out, and when the house elf appeared, he immediately dropped down to his height. “Can you get me some burn salve for Theo?”

The elf’s eyes widened in horror as he looked up at the boys. “Of course, Master Harry.”

When he popped away again, Harry grabbed his hand and pulled him into the drawing room, unable to stop his hands from shaking as he did so. Kreacher met them there, a jar of green salve in his little hands as they both nudged Theo into one of the plush armchairs before Kreacher carefully dabbed the goop onto his burn.

“Ow-” He hissed, closing his eyes and sucking in a sharp breath. “Owww…”

“I know, baby, I know.” Harry murmured, perching up on the arm of the chair and wrapping his arms around Theo’s neck, kissing the top of his head. “I’m so sorry… I wanted to get to you before he saw you but…”

“It’s fine, Harry… I just, wasn’t expecting him there…”

“Can I ask… What did he..?”

“...He said he didn’t want me hanging around you anymore.” Theo sighed, flinching a bit as Kreacher dabbed more salve onto his face. “That I’m ‘dishonoring our noble blood’ by being friends with a ‘half breed’.”

“...Fucker.”

“Exactly. Then I got mad and-” He sucked in another breath, closing his eyes tightly as a bandage was placed onto his cheek. “-told him that we’re more than friends. I didn’t care what happened, he… He insulted you, and… Oh, Merlin, Harry did you cut off his fucking hand?!?”

His eyes almost bulged out of his head, looking at his boyfriend in shock.

Harry blinked a few times, looking him dead in the eyes as he spoke.

“He hit you. And he burned you.”

“So you took off his hand?”

“Yes.”

Theo stared at him, before a soft huff of laughter escaped him and he shook his head. “...Oh, you’re completely mad.”

“Probably.” He smiled, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “And I’m possessive.”

“Mad, possessive, homicidal… I really know how to pick them, don’t I?”

“You’re just as bad as I am, Theodore. You know it. How many people have you plotted the deaths of since we’ve met?”

“...Fair enough.”

Harry smiled, kissing the top of his head and nuzzling the soft, fluffy hair that tickled his face, breathing out a sigh of relief.

Theo was away from his father, his burn was being treated, and he was safe in his arms. Exactly where he was supposed to be.

That relief was very, very short lived, however, as the front door slammed open, and an all too familiar voice called out into the house.

“Harrison James Hartford I swear to Merlin if you do not get over here right this second I will rip this house apart!” Narcissa called as she began to walk through the house. “How dare you portkey away without saying a bloody word to Lucius or myself! Do you have any idea how much you scared me!? And taking off Theron Nott’s hand in such a public place?! Where was your damned impulse control!?”

…Ah. Fuck.

“Kreacher? Theo? Help me.”

They both stared at him for a moment, before slowly shaking their heads.

“Sorry, love. You’re on your own for this one.” Theo murmured, kissing Harry’s cheek. “Good luck.”

“HARRY!”

He cursed under his breath, closing his eyes and carefully climbing up off of the armchair before he accepted his fate, heading out of the drawing room and into the main hallway to meet Narcissa. The familiar magic of a muffling spell came up behind him, and he knew that Kreacher had just blocked out the sound of the scolding he was about to receive.

And when he saw Narcissa’s enraged, yet terrified face, his face burned bright with shame.

“...I wasn’t thinking?”

“You absolutely were not thinking at all! I know you did a good thing by rescuing Theo, I can’t believe you would do something so dangerous- so- so risky! You put the both of you in danger with that! I am at a loss for words!”

And despite being at a loss for words, Narcissa proceeded to scold him for the next forty minutes, while Kreacher and Theo were blissfully unaware only a few feet away.

Which, was a new record for him, and one he never wanted to have broken again.

Chapter Text

Even with how angry Narcissa was at first, it didn’t last very long in the grand scheme of things. Once she had gotten her frustrations out, she’d pulled Harry into a tight hug and apologized for losing her mind a bit, before going in and checking on Theo as well.

After she made sure that everyone was alright, and she had thanked Kreacher profusely for taking care of them on such short notice, they all flooed back to Malfoy Manor, where the rest of their friends were waiting.

Thankfully, there was no further scolding, as they had all seen exactly what happened and declared that Harry’s reaction was justified, given the circumstances.

And after that, things descended back into relative peace.

Neville revealing that Scabbers the rat, or rather, Peter Pettigrew, had likely been eaten by Crookshanks, had put a damper on everyone’s moods, but whatever half-baked plans they had put together involving the rat were quickly brushed to the side, as they were no longer viable options.

But, as the winter holidays progressed, that dampened mood seemed to fade from everyone’s minds.

All but one person.

And Harry was doing everything he could to not think about the day that was approaching. No sir, he was not going to think about it.

Not going to think about the sensation of cooling blood on his hands, or the flashes of corpses in his mind when he closed his eyes.

Of cold, dark death that reached out and sucked the air from his lungs.

Of limp bodies in beautiful cribs.

The rot and iron-

No. No, he was not going to think of it, and anyone who said otherwise was a damn liar and needed to shut up.

He wasn’t going to think of it, but something in his subconscious kept counting down the days, even if his conscious mind was trying to ignore the passage of time and pretend that there was nothing happening, that everything was fine.

But he kept counting.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

When he woke up the morning of the nineteenth, the last day before The Day, he could feel the coldness sinking into his chest, wrapping around his heart and clinging to him like a vice that just could not be loosened. He blinked slowly, staring up at the canopy above his bed, and trying to ignore the ice in his veins.

Today was Fiona’s thirtieth birthday. She would have been thirty today.

That was strange to think about. That she’d died before she’d even reached thirty.

They always celebrated her birthday with pancakes and black pudding. She adored the stuff, even if it made Harry nauseous to think about what those sausages were made of for too long, and Gid refused to eat it at all.

But, every year, he would get up at the crack of dawn, take out the pack of black pudding he bought at the butcher’s the night before, and make her those fucking sausages, and the best pancakes he could.

God, he missed that so much.

Harry sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes and fumbling for his glasses for a moment before shoving them onto his face.

He stayed sitting there for a while, unable to find the energy to pry himself out of his bed.

What was the point?

He couldn’t find one.

So, he sat there in silence, his ears ringing as he stared blankly ahead.

It was a while before anyone came to check on him, but he barely even noticed their presence as they made their way into the room, a soft weight settling on the side of his bed, and the scent of food hitting him like a brick as a tray of food was set on his lap.

When he finally looked over, Luna’s gentle face greeted him, her own tray of breakfast in hers as she smiled.

“...Pancakes and black pudding.” She said softly. “I asked Teeky to make it. I figured you would want a comfort today.”

“...Thank you, Lue.” He was able to rasp out after a moment, a few tears slipping down his cheeks as he picked up a fork and cut into the sausage, taking a bite with a sad smile on his face.

They tasted just as terrible as he remembered.

But they were exactly what he wanted.

The two of them sat in silence for a while, just, eating their breakfasts and pretending like Harry wasn’t nearly breaking into sobs every five minutes, despite the fact that he was.

When they were done, Luna set the trays to the side and nestled up against him, her soft blonde curls falling over his shoulder as she closed her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, his head resting atop hers as he sighed.

“...I’m sorry.” He murmured. “It’s winter break. You should all be enjoying yourselves, not… Not worrying about me and my issues.”

“You’re not a burden, Harry.” She replied without a moment of hesitation. “You’re human, and you’re in pain. That’s normal.”

“I know, but…”

“No butts, Harry. Those are for sitting on.”

He paused, blinking a few times, before a confused laugh escaped him and he looked at her.

“...What the fuck?”

And Luna, brilliant, wonderful Luna, had the biggest shit eating grin on her face that he had ever seen.

“I got you to laugh.” She declared. “That’s a good thing. Now… Do you want to wallow, or do you want to be distracted, because Daddy says I am very good at being distracting.”

Harry couldn’t stop the tired smile from spreading across his face, and he ran a hand through his hair as he hugged her tighter and flopped back down onto his bed, bringing the younger girl down with him.

“Distract me, Lue. I need it.” He murmured, tucking his face into her hair and closing his eyes as she began to speak.

“Have you ever heard of the Rotfang Conspiracy?” She asked with a hum, grabbing one of his hands and starting to play with his fingers, gently bending them this way and that.

“No, what is it?”

“Aurors are attempting to use dark magic and gum disease to bring down the Ministry of Magic, because they believe it’s corrupted from the inside out.”

“All governments are corrupt, Lue. Except Mrs. Zabini, she’s great.”

“That’s true, but not all governments are slowly losing their teeth from gum disease. Did you know that the former Minister of Magic has six false teeth?”

Harry paused. “I did not know that, actually.”

“Exactly.” Luna nodded solemnly. “It’s the rotfang.”

“...You know what? Yeah. Rotfang Conspiracy, I’m down. How do we put an end to it?” He hummed, settling down into the bed and relaxing as his friend’s soft voice filled the air again, managing to pull his thoughts away to what the date actually was as she began to explain her ideas.

“I’m very happy you asked, Harry. I’ve put a lot of thought into it…”

—

He was itchy.

He was incredibly itchy.

If Harry was a different person, who hadn’t done the things he’d done, he would have thought that he had just been eaten alive by mosquitos, slather himself in anti-itch cream, and go about going back to sleep.

But, he was himself, and he knew exactly why his arms felt like they were covered in mosquito bites.

He wanted to hurt. He wanted to bleed, because the second he had woken up, the date burned itself into his mind.

It was midnight, and it was December Twentieth, and all he wanted to do was rip into his arms and pull himself apart as penance for what happened to his mum, his dad, and his sister.

He couldn’t do that, though, as much as he wanted to.

“...Fuck me…” Harry murmured, slowly pushing himself up out of bed and scratching the healed scars that littered his arms, trying to ignore the urge to go and grab his knife from his bag and dig it into the flesh. Instead, he shook his head, stuck his glasses on his face, and slipped out of his room, following the familiar corridors until he found himself in the sitting room.

Which, was where he saw Narcissa, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“...Cissa..?” He asked softly, pulling her attention over to him. He frowned when he saw her tearstained face, immediately heading over to her side and sitting next to her. “Are you okay?”

“I should be asking you that, love…” She sniffed, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. “Oh… I’m so sorry, sweetheart…”

Harry sighed, sinking into her arms and closing his eyes. He didn’t even really know what to say, but then again, he hadn’t known what to say this entire year.

His family was dead. Hell, both his families were dead.

And there was nothing that could bring them back, no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did… They were dead, and that was that.

“It’s… Fine, I guess.” He murmured. “I dunno, I… I don’t have the energy to cry about it right now.”

“And that’s understandable.” Narcissa nodded, dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief once again as she took a deep breath to calm herself. “...Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Yeah, I… Ah… Well…” Harry hesitated, sitting up again and scratching at his arms. She nodded solemnly.

“I see… May I..?”

Once he nodded at her, giving her permission to grab his arms, and as soon as she did, she pressed her wand against them, a soft blue light spreading over the skin and soothing the itch better than his aggressive scratching had.

Once the itchiness disappeared, he watched as a familiar, inky magic spread out from her wand, forming little snakes that curled and spiraled around his arms before settling down in a gentle curl.

“Oh thank god…” He murmured, his shoulders slumping as the constant twinging finally came to an end. “That was horrible… I couldn’t get it to stop…”

Narcissa chuckled a bit, the sound soft and sad. “It happens… Thank you for coming to me instead of cutting yourself again. I really do appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem. I feel like I’ve already given you, and Kreacher, enough heart attacks to last a lifetime, so…”

“That you have, darling. That you have…”

They went quiet after that, neither of them knowing what to say. Instead, Narcissa leaned forward, summoning another tea cup and pouring it for Harry, gently handing it to him. They drank in silence, avoiding the elephant in the room as much as they possibly could.

Then, Narcissa broke the silence.

“...Lucius and I are holding a bit of a Yule Gala in the evening for the members of the Wizengamot.” She explained. “It was originally being held at the Torrance’s, but… Well…”

“Oh, okay.” He nodded.

“You don’t have to attend. We completely understand if you would rather go somewhere else. Juliana said that you’re more than welcome at the villa, or you can go to Grimmauld Place. Too many people can be… You know.”

And Harry did know, actually.

He sighed a bit, running a hand through his hair and looking over at her.

“...Can I still come?” He asked. “But… If I get overwhelmed, I can leave?”

“Absolutely.” She whispered, leaning over and gently kissing the top of his head. “Whatever you need to do, Harry. You don’t need to justify yourself to me.”

Harry nodded, leaning against her with a small hum, letting her wrap her arm around his shoulders and hug him close. She was always so… Warm. It was a strange dichotomy he was still getting used to.

Lucius and Narcissa always portrayed themselves as cold and aloof around the rest of the world, but the second it was just them and their family, they were the softest, warmest people that Harry had ever met.

Besides his own parents, of course, but that didn’t count right now.

But they just… Were so accepting, and kind, and it completely blew Harry’s mind every time he thought about it long enough.

A part of him wanted to say that to her, to tell her just how much she meant to him, how much her and Lucius’ kindness meant to him, but the second he opened his mouth to speak the words just… Got stuck.

So, he stayed silent, sipping his tea and taking the occasional biscuit from the tray, letting himself relax somewhere that he knew was safe.

“Harry?” Narcissa asked, starting to gently scratch his scalp with her nails, causing his eyes to flutter shut.

“Hm..?” He replied, relaxing further and letting his tea rest in his lap.

“...I actually think you should go into muggle London tomorrow.”

That, was an odd statement.

“Why?”

“Because. I think it would be good for you kids to go out there for a while. There isn’t always much for wixen children to do without parental supervision, but from what you told me about muggle London, you can go out and have your fun without us. Maybe you can take everyone to… What was it that you called it? A cinema?”

Harry paused, a chuckle escaping him. “...Oh, that’s a really good idea, yeah. I can take them to a mall, too. That’ll blow their minds.”

He smiled a bit, finishing off the rest of his tea before he stood up, setting the cup on the tray. “Thanks, Narcissa, that’s a really good idea… I… I think I’m gonna go try and get some more sleep. I don’t want to be up all night again, especially if I’m going to go full muggle tour guide tomorrow.”

“Alright then, sweetheart. Get some sleep. I love you.”

Harry faltered, going still for a moment as his eyes widened.

He had never heard it before, but… Narcissa’s voice carried the same cadence as Fiona’s when she said those three words. She sounded just like his mum when she said that.

“...I love you too.” He replied, tears welling up in his eyes as he quickly closed them, giving her a small smile before he hurried back up to his room before he broke down into tears.

His hand reached up to grasp the wedding rings around his neck as he let the floodgates open, the soft, pulsing warmth the rings gave off whenever he was in distress grounding him as he finally closed himself into his room, stumbling over to his bed and crawling into it.

He adored Narcissa, and when he’d replied to her, it had been to her.

But at the same time… A part of him had pretended it was Fiona, sitting on the sofa and letting him wander back up to bed after another sleepless night, and god, his chest ached.

It felt like the wounds that had finally begun to scab over were being ripped open once again, and he just let the pain wash over him as he sobbed into his pillows.

And not once did he let go of those rings, hoping beyond hope that wherever his mum and dad were, they knew just how much he loved and missed them.

—

After staying in his room for the entirety of the nineteenth, mostly listening to Luna explain all of the different theories and creatures that she believes in, it was a shock for everyone in Malfoy Manor when he emerged on the twentieth, even after having ventured out in the middle of the night to go and speak with Narcissa for a bit.

But, it was the day that he was dreading.

The anniversary of the worst day of his fucking life.

And, he refused to wallow. He’d done that yesterday, so he needed to get up, get himself together, and do things. He didn’t know what, yet, but things needed to be done, and he was going to do them.

The manor was in full swing, with all of the house elves running amok to decorate and cook under the guiding hand of Narcissa, while Lucius seemed to be going over a rather large piece of parchment.

His friends all seemed to be trudging back inside from being out in the snow, and, like he’d just shot a pistol into the air, everyone was frozen and staring at him.

Like they hadn’t expected him to emerge from his cave at all.

“...Hey.” Harry rasped out after a moment, before Theo rushed forward and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Hi, Harry…” He whispered, kissing the side of his head. “We weren’t expecting you down today.”

“I got bored of being holed up in my room, and I didn’t feel like reading, or… Any of that stuff…”

“That’s fair.” Draco smiled a bit as he walked over, the expression hesitant. “How are you..?”

“Honestly, mate? I feel like shit.” He sighed, looking around. “It looks really pretty in here, though… The party will be nice.”

“You’re coming?” Daphne asked in surprise. “I figured you would… I dunno… Go and hide somewhere…”

“Oh, I’m going to spend most of the day out doing stuff. The only reason I didn’t just, bounce first thing is because I wanted to invite you guys out with me. I’m going to muggle London, and I’m gonna stop by and visit my parents before I go out and do anything.”

Narcissa made her way over, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of each of their heads with a small smile.

“I think going out is a good idea.” She said softly. “That way you all can get away from the stuffiness of the house for a while, come back and enjoy the party. Daphne, your mother sent your dress robes through the floo this morning, and I laid them out on your bed in your room.”

Daphne nodded, shaking the snow out of her hair and smiling at her friends. “Thank you, Narcissa.”

“Go and try to have fun, okay? Be safe in London, use the portkey to Grimmauld in case anything happens, and be back by five. That will give you two hours to get ready before the first guests start to arrive.”

With a few excited whoops, Harry watched his friends all take off up the stairs to go get changed, while Lucius came over to stand next to his wife, a gentle, worried expression on his face.

“Will you be alright?” He asked softly. “I know you’ll be with your friends, and Draco will keep a close eye on you, but…”

“I’ll be fine. Narcissa gave me the idea last night, and I doubt she would suggest anything that would be bad for me. Especially today.” Harry nodded a bit, adjusting his leather jacket.

Whatever charms that Mrs. Zabini had placed on it so long ago were holding firm, as it still carried the distinct scent of coffee and cigarettes, which, he was fairly certain was the one smell in the world that would always comfort him.

“Alright, but… Like she said. Come right back if it all becomes too much, and you can hide in your room if you need to. Or at Grimmauld if you want to disappear entirely.”

“I know, I know. I’ll be fine, I swear…” He replied with a soft sigh, stepping forward and pulling them both into a tight hug. “...I love you.”

“...We love you too, Harry.” Lucius whispered, gently running his hand over the boy’s hair and slowly pulling away when he heard the stampede of teenagers making their way down the stairs.

“Daphne made us change a few times.” Neville laughed a bit, adjusting the hoodie he was wearing. “Apparently we kept dressing like wizards.”

“You were dressing like wizards.” Theo shrugged, pulling a thick sweater that Harry absolutely knew belonged to him over his head.

“And you’re the one who raided your boyfriend’s clothes.”

“As is my right.”

“It’s true.” Harry snorted. “I steal his shit all the time. Pretty sure I’m wearing his hoodie under my jacket right now.”

“You are.” Blaise sighed affectionately. “He bought that at Chessington during your birthday last year.”

Theo hummed a bit, walking over and kissing Harry’s forehead. “So, where to first? And, also, how are we getting there?”

“First of all, we’re stopping at a florist. Then, we need to make a quick stop at the cemetery so I can say hi to Mum and Dad…”

“And, let me guess.” Neville asked. “Knight Bus?”

“Nope! Flooing to Grimmauld, and then I’m taking you all on the London Underground.”

“Underground trains!” Luna shouted excitedly, before she took off towards the fireplace, while everyone else stared at him in a mixture of worry and confusion.

“So… Is it, actually an underground train?” Draco asked quietly, his eyes wide. “Like… In a tunnel?”

“Yep. I’ll get you all railcards too. They’re very useful for getting around in London. And in honor of my Mum, you’re all going to have the Underground memorized by the time I’m done with you.”

—

Sometimes, Harry forgot that all of his friends had grown up with almost no muggle influences. They were all pureblood wixen, raised in families of pureblooded wixen, and as such, they had absolutely no clue what certain muggle things were.

Theo, of course, understood a lot more than the others from his time with Harry and his parents, and Blaise understood more about Italian muggles than any of them did, but there was still a level of disconnect.

And that fact showed itself the most whenever they experienced something so uniquely muggle that they had never even heard of it before.

Getting them on the underground to head to the cemetery was an… Experience, to say the least, and it almost felt like trying to herd a bunch of kittens into a box. It eventually worked out, but by the time they were on the train, he already felt completely drained, and wanted to go home.

But, he knew that if he sat at home all day, he would just wallow in his grief and self-pity, and he didn’t particularly want to do that either.

Actually visiting the cemetery had been a strange experience, because the second he crossed the threshold, he felt like he was going to vomit. Maybe it was the knowledge that today was the anniversary of their deaths, or just the fact that the morning had been stressful, but just walking over to the headstone had his legs like jelly, and his mind full of cotton.

In the end, he hadn’t even been able to say anything, and just left the flowers he’d bought at a nearby florist on the grave after clearing away the snow that covered it before turning around and walking back out, his friends trailing behind him with matching confused expressions on their faces.

After that, Harry just began to drag his friends all around London, taking them to a cinema where they watched Robin Hood: Men in Tights- Blaise’s choice, because he recognized Cary Elwes from The Princess Bride and really wanted to see another movie with him in it- and ate way too much popcorn.

Luna had asked him what a mall was as they left, having overheard a group of girls discussing going shopping, which then led to him to bring his friends to the Burlington Arcade so they could experience one for the very first time.

And dear god, was he glad he did.

Because the sheer joy they had on their faces at the realization of what a mall was?

Fucking glorious.

They moved in a pack from store to store, and with the gusto of a group of teenagers with far too much money, and zero adult supervision, they bought just about whatever they wanted.

Muggle clothing wise at least.

Daphne had basically followed Theo and Harry around as they picked out clothes, mostly baggy jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies, while grabbing similar items along the way, while also helping Draco and Blaise veto things that she deemed ‘too formal’ from the opposite side of the store, as they kept trying to buy button ups and trousers.

Luna’s bags were filled to the brim with tie dye, butterflies, and the most colorful items she could find. Truth be told, next to the rest of her friends, who were all buying clothes in neutral shades, she looked like a rainbow had thrown up on a pile of glitter, and she seemed perfectly content with that fact.

Eventually, Draco and Blaise had more acceptable muggle clothes, like flannels and dark jeans, but they had managed to still sneak a few regular button ups and nicer looking clothes underneath their friend’s noses.

And Neville?

Neville raided the vintage shop.

And he emerged with six bags filled with comfy, baggy sweaters, and a smile so big that one would think he had just managed to ace an exam, but it was simply the unbridled joy of finding so many sweaters.

“And I have enough to share!” He said with a soft laugh as they made their way to the food court.

“I’m glad, Nev.” Harry smiled softly, leaning over and wrapping his arm around his friend’s shoulders in a quick hug. “Thank you guys for coming with me today, even if you did make me want to scream when we were trying to get on the train…”

“Sorry, Harry…” Blaise said softly. “I think we all just got a little over excited…”

“It happens, don’t worry.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m having a good time, even if today sucks.”

“Good.” Theo murmured, leaning over and kissing the side of his head. “We were hoping to distract you a bit…”

Harry hummed softly, standing up on his toes to press a quick kiss to his boyfriend’s lips, but stopped suddenly as he pulled away, his eyes landing on another group of teenagers who were staring at them with expressions of disgust.

The sudden realization of why hit him like a brick to the face.

He’d forgotten that while wixen don’t give a damn about sexuality, muggles did.

And the disgust on those boys’ faces, especially now that they were standing up and starting to walk over to them? Oh, it filled Harry with more fear than anything had in a while.

“...We should go.” He said quietly, stopping dead in his tracks and turning on his heel. “Now.”

“What? Why?” Draco asked, looking over at him with a frown.

“No time. Let’s go.”

Daphne looked over at the group of muggles approaching them, and a look of worry crossed her features as she followed after Harry, the rest of the following suit.

“Harry? Who are they?” She asked softly.

“I don’t know. But they saw Theo kiss me, and me about to kiss him.” He hissed back.

“Why does that matter?”

“Muggles don’t… They don’t…”

“Oh. Oh.” She whispered, her eyes wide as she looked around, grabbing the back of Harry’s shirt and yanking him into a utility hallway, reaching out and pulling everyone else in too. “Grab onto each other. Harry?”

“I know, I know.” He said quietly, grabbing onto Luna and Neville, looking up right as the group of teenagers began to round the corner. “Patmol.”

And before they could see them, the familiar tugging of the portkey yanked them away, sending them crashing into a pile in the middle of the Grimmauld Place entryway, startling Kreacher, who was holding a plate of biscuits, and accidentally knocking them all to the floor. Theo yanked his wand out, catching the biscuits in mid air and carefully placing them back on the plate, before his shoulders slumped in relief.

“Master Harry?” The elf asked worriedly, setting his snack on the table and rushing over to them as Harry knelt down to his height, letting Kreacher’s small, wrinkled hands reach up and cup his cheeks. “Kreacher was not expecting the young masters and missies to return so soon.”

“Sorry for scaring you, Kreacher…” He said softly, kissing the top of the elf’s head. “Just had a bit of a scare ourselves, so we came back early.”

“Is anyone hurt?”

“No, no, we’re all fine. Go and eat your snacks, we’re going to rest for a few minutes before we go back to Malfoy Manor.”

Kreacher nodded hesitantly, before he pulled away. “Master will call for Kreacher if he needs anything?”

“Of course.” Harry nodded. “Always.”

The elf nodded again, much firmer this time, before he grabbed his plate of biscuits again and popped away. Once he was gone, Harry’s shoulders slumped, and he closed his eyes.

“So… Why did we run away?” Blaise asked quietly, looking at his friends. “Was it those muggles?”

“I think so.” Theo nodded a bit. “They just… Started approaching us for some reason. I don’t know why.”

“Because you and I kissed, Theo.” Harry grunted a bit, closing his eyes. “And muggles aren’t nearly as accepting as wixen. If we didn’t leave when we did…”

Daphne shuddered, shaking her head. “...Muggles have been known to be violent when it comes to things like that. It’s… Gotten slightly better in recent years, but it’s still bad in most places. We went over a little bit of it in Muggle Studies earlier this year, because Professor Burbage wanted us to be careful in case we ventured out into the muggle world.”

“Merlin…” Draco murmured, his face going paler than usual. “Are you okay, Harry?”

“I’m fine, I just… I think, I’m gonna stay at Grimmauld for the rest of the day. Can you tell your mum that I’m really sorry I didn’t attend the party? I really wanted to, I just can’t right now.”

“I’ll stay with you.” Theo said softly, resting his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder and kissing the top of his head. “We can read books in the library if you want.”

“Please…”

Luna hummed softly, walking over and wrapping her arms around Harry in a tight hug, letting him squeeze her back.

“We’ll have fun at the party for you.” She said softly. “Narcissa won’t be upset.”

“Thanks, Lue…”

There was a strange sort of silence that passed over them as they all headed into the drawing room, settling down on the different sofas as they just… Thought about the day.

Harry had done everything he could to make himself feel better. Make himself not think about everything that had happened over the past year. The grief, the pain, the utter agony that came with the death of his family.

And yet, he was thwarted at every turn.

So, instead of distracting himself, he was going to wrap himself up in a blanket with his boyfriend, wallow in his grief, and try again tomorrow.

Because today wasn’t working, but tomorrow just might.

And truthfully, anything would be better than how stressful today had been.

Chapter Text

Due to the sheer amount of students who went home for the holidays, mostly at the behest of their parents, Hogwarts was a ghost town.

Which, Hermione was perfectly fine with.

After her fights with Ron over his damned rat, and Seamus taking his side more often than not, she was absolutely, one hundred percent content with being left alone by everyone, and she was not at all upset by the fact that her friends weren’t there to celebrate with her.

Of course, she’d been sent quite a few letters by Harry and all of his friends, all inviting her to come spend the holidays with them, but…

She wasn’t as close to the rest of their group, even after taking all those classes with them. It’s not that they weren’t friendly, or completely accepting of her and all of her questions about wixen culture. She just, felt like an intruder at times.

But, she felt the same whenever she was around Ron and Seamus, and with the two of them it was much worse, so there really was no happy middle.

So she was spending Christmas alone.

Again.

Hermione sighed a bit, running a hand through her hair as she closed the book she was reading and carefully placed it back up on the shelf, her eyes flicking over to the clock on the far wall. It was time for lunch, and while in any other situation, she would simply snag a few things from the Great Hall and hide back up in her dormitory, Professor McGonagall had requested that everyone eat together that day.

She gave a quick nod to Madam Pince, who pretended like she wasn’t there, and slipped back out of the library, wrapping her cardigan around herself a bit tighter as she made her way through the cold halls of the castle.

It had been a welcome gift from her parents, who had sent her a veritable ton of warm clothes to wear in the drafty castle for Christmas, as well as her usual gift of money for new books, and some sugar-free sweets.

Practical and simple, her favorite kind of gift.

Ron and Seamus, of course, hadn’t gotten her anything, but she had expected that. They were angry with her, and they had no desire to get over their anger any time soon, even after she had gotten them both Honeydukes gift boxes as an apology.

She sighed, shaking her head as she made her way into the Great Hall, before being startled by the sight in front of her.

The House tables had been moved against the walls again, and that a single table, set for twelve, stood in the middle of the room. Contessa Zabini and Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout were seated already, as well as two first year Hufflepuffs, and an extremely angry looking fifth year Slytherin, who Hermione knew was named Peregrine Derrick, because he played on the Quidditch team with Harry, Draco, and Blaise.

Derrick took one look at her, stood up, and pulled the chair next to him out for her, nodding at it.

“Oh! Thank you.” She said softly, taking a seat, and watching as he settled back into his own.

“No problem, Granger.” Derrick grunted. The Contessa looked over, nodding approvingly, and smiling at them.

“Glad you could join us, Miss Granger. We are only waiting on a few others.” She said softly, her honeyed voice making Hermione relax a bit. Contessa Zabini had that effect on people, she’d noticed. At least, the students were comforted by her presence.

The professors always seemed a bit nervous when she was around, like she was scrutinizing all of their actions and judging them accordingly.

“I hope you all can forgive me for the fact that I will have to leave after this meal.” Contessa Zabini said softly. “I promised my son and his friends that I would take them all to Rome this afternoon to go sightseeing. It will be cold, but it will still be pleasant.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun, Contessa!” Hermione smiled. “Tell everyone I say Merry Christmas, will you?”

“Of course. Are you sure that you do not want to join us, Miss Granger? We have plenty of room.”

She shook her head a bit. “Thank you for the offer, Contessa, but I’m fine staying here at Hogwarts. I don’t want to intrude.”

“It would not be an intrusion, but I understand. You are always welcome to come and spend time with us if you feel up for it.”

Before Hermione could respond, the doors to the Great Hall opened once again, causing them all to look over at the three men who entered the room. Professor Lupin gave a tired smile at the sight of the table, nodding at everyone before he took his seat, his bones popping and cracking painfully as he did so. Filch, the caretaker, had seemingly swapped out his old brown coat for another that seemed equally as old and moldy- but black this time, and he took a seat at the opposite end of the table from Hermione, which she was secretly very pleased about.

Then, there was the third man, who Hermione didn’t recognize at all.

Contessa Zabini smiled, rising to her feet and walking over to him with her arms spread wide.

“Ivan! It is wonderful to see you, my friend.” She laughed a bit, letting the tall, white haired man wrap her in a tight hug, a hearty laugh escaping him.

“It is good to see you too, Juliana.” He grinned, picking her up as he straightened his back, her feet dangling a few inches off the ground. When he set her down again, Contessa Zabini straightened out her robes before turning to the table, gesturing to the man.

“This is Hogwarts’ new Transfiguration professor, Ivan Volkov. Or, Professor Volkov, for ease.” She said, letting the man take his seat before heading back to her own. Professor Volkov smiled at everyone, his handsome face crinkling up a bit as he did so.

“I am pleased to be working here. I can only hope that I live up to the standards that Professor McGonagall has set.” He hummed. His Russian accent was scarce, but there were twinges of it remaining. “You may ask me any questions you would like, however, my only request is that I can eat first. I had to Portkey here, and I have had far too many foul experiences with portkeys to eat beforehand.”

There were a few scattered chuckled around the room, before Professor McGonagall nodded.

“Well, everyone… Merry Christmas, and please, dig in!”

Most of lunch was a quiet affair, with everyone just wanting to actually eat their food before any real conversation started. Eventually, however, Flitwick looked over at Volkov with a raised brow.

“So, Ivan?”

“Hm?” The other man asked, quickly swallowing his… Rather disturbingly large bite of potatoes before he spoke again. “Yes?”

“I know you were hand selected by Contessa Zabini herself, and I have no desire to judge her choices, but for my own peace of mind…”

“Ah, I understand.” Volkov laughed a bit, setting his fork and knife down and rolling up his sleeves, letting Hermione catch a glimpse of the many runic tattoos that went up and down his arms. He folded them across his chest, grinning around the table. “I have three Masteries. Transfiguration, Healing, and Ancient Runes. I taught Healing at Koldovstoretz for ten years, and then I traveled with a team of Cursebreakers for another decade.”

“What are Cursebreakers?” One of the first years asked curiously, causing him to turn his head towards them.

“There are different kinds of Cursebreakers. There are the ones who go and break through the heavy curses on tombs, and those who work on magical artifacts, but the team I worked with helped to break curses put on people. That was actually how I came to meet Juliana.” Volkov tilted his head towards the Contessa, who nodded. “She contacted me after I finished my last assignment, and asked me to apply here. I wanted a change, so… I was offered the position.”

“You helped break curses on people?” Hermione asked, her eyes wide. “My friend Ron, his older brother is a Cursebreaker for Gringotts…”

“Bill Weasley? I met him, once. Boy had a nasty curse on him… Rambled on and on for hours about his siblings while half delirious… Tombs are not meant to be broken into.”

“Was it really that bad?”

“Oh, worse than you would think.”

“What was the worst you’ve ever seen?”

Volkov paused, before a grin spread across his face. Before anyone could stop him, he began telling a tale of a curse placed on the tomb of an Empress that would slowly cause the affected wix to slowly lose their mind as they turned into a dragon. It was a fascinating tale that, despite the grotesque imagery that it provided, had held everyone’s attention.

That is, until the doors of the Great Hall opened once again.

It was Professor Trelawney, gliding toward them as though on wheels. She had put on a green sequined dress in honor of the occasion, making her look more than ever like a glittering, oversized dragonfly.

Contessa Zabini smiled a bit, although the expression was terse. It was obvious that she didn’t like the Divination professor much, but she still feigned politeness.

“Ah, Sybill. How wonderful for you to join us.” She said softly.

"I have been crystal gazing, Contessa." Professor Trelawney replied in her mistiest, most faraway voice. "And to my astonishment, I saw myself abandoning my solitary luncheon and coming to join you. Who am I to refuse the promptings of fate? I at once hastened from my tower, and I do beg you to forgive my lateness...."

“You are quite fine. Please, allow me to pull up a-”

“I got it, Juliana.” Volkov replied quickly, drawing his wand from a holster on his thigh and grabbing one of the extra forks, quickly tossing it up in the air and casting two spells at it. One turned the fork into a chair just like the ones they were all sitting on, while the other levitated it over between McGonagall and Snape, carefully setting it down.

Trelawney, however, did not sit down.

Her enormous eyes had been roving around the table, and she suddenly uttered a kind of soft scream, which startled Professor Sprout so badly that she choked on her bite of turkey, causing Flitwick to slap her on the back a few times.

“I dare not, Headmaster! If I join the table, we shall be thirteen! Nothing could be more unlucky! Never forget that when thirteen dine together, the first to rise will be the first to die!"

"We'll risk it, Sibyll." Professor McGonagall impatiently. "Do sit down, the turkey's getting stone cold."

Trelawney hesitated, then lowered herself into the empty chair, eyes shut and mouth clenched tight, as though expecting a thunderbolt to hit the table. McGonagall poked a large spoon into the nearest tureen.

"Tripe, Sybill?"

Professor Trelawney ignored her. Eyes open again, she looked around once more and said. "But where is dear Hagrid? Shouldn’t he be dining with us?”

“As it happens, Hagrid is attempting to shoo a nest of Ashwinders out of the fireplace in the Slytherin Common Room.” Snape sighed, rubbing his temples. “The damn things bit Mr. Derrick earlier today, and his hands are still burnt.”

As if to prove his head of house’s point, Derrick lifted his bandaged hands.

"But surely you already knew that, Sybill?" McGonagall asked, her eyebrows raised. Trelawney gave the other professor a very cold look.

"Certainly I knew Minerva." She said quietly. "But one does not parade the fact that one is All- Knowing. I frequently act as though I am not possessed of the Inner Eye, so as not to make others nervous.”

"That explains a great deal.”

Hermione stifled a giggle behind her hand, causing Professor Lupin and Professor Volkov to look at her. Both men chuckled, shaking their heads almost in unison as they all went back to their meal, a slight tension having settled in the air at the upset between the two women at the table.

“...Well. This has been lovely.” Lupin sighed, carefully standing up, his bones all cracking once again as he looked over at Snape. “...Severus, would you mind if I stopped by your office later tonight? So we can discuss..?”

The potions professor’s mouth pressed into a fine line, but he nodded.

“Fine. Eight o’clock. No later, no earlier.”

“That is perfectly fine by me. See you then.”

As the Defense Professor left the Hall, Trelawney got a misty look in her eyes.

“Poor dear… He won’t be with us for very long…” She sighed, causing Contessa Zabini to pinch the bridge of her nose and shoot an uncharacteristic glare at the woman.

She huffed a bit, looking at the students and giving them an apologetic smile, before summoning a plate of what looked to be little fried balls of dough that were glazed and covered in sprinkles.

“...Would anyone care for some Struffoli?”

“Yes, please.” All four students answered simultaneously, reaching out and grabbing some of the dessert in an effort to ignore the awkwardness that had filled the room.

At least the Struffoli was really good.

—

Daphne sat quietly, watching the silvery magic that ebbed from her wand and trailed over to the prancing unicorn a few feet away as it moved in circles around the empty ballroom.

She could cast a Patronus, something that very few people her age could do, and Professor Lupin had asked her to help him teach the rest of the students how to do so.

And yet, as she watched the magical representation of Nestor dance, she felt… Nothing.

Something about it just made her feel off.

Or, maybe, it was the letter that was clutched in her left hand. The one that her mother had sent her that evening, the words scrawled wildly and manically, in a way that didn’t feel like her mother at all.

And yet… It was just the written out words that had been spat at her over and over again.

How she was a disgrace to her family, how she needed to act more properly ladylike, and that if she didn’t get her act together they would find a way to marry her off before she could say the word ‘Quidditch’.

It wasn’t new, but at the same time, it felt different.

But she wasn’t surprised. This was how her mother had been acting for months, ever since early in the summer, after their visit to St. Mungo’s…

Daphne sighed, flicking her wand and making the unicorn disappear once again as she looked at the folded up letter in her hand.

A part of her wanted to read it again, but another part of her knew that it didn’t matter what it said.

So, she pressed the tip of her wand against the parchment, murmuring a soft spell and watching the parchment erupt into flames, the last dregs of it floating up into the air and disappearing entirely, the smell of smoke filling the air and making her sigh.

“Uh… Daph?” A familiar voice asked from behind her, startling her a bit and making her look over her shoulder at Neville, who looked both half asleep and incredibly concerned. “Why are you up?”

“Uh… I couldn’t sleep.” She replied, shrugging as she turned away from him again. There were a few soft, shuffling footsteps as he moved over to her side, settling down on the floor next to her.

“...Bad dreams?”

“No, I… Just, lost in thought.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

She hesitated again, tilting her head back to look up at the chandelier on the ceiling.

Neville was, truthfully, one of the kindest people she knew. One of the few people who would never ever think to break a promise, who always had everyone’s best interests at heart.

If she couldn’t trust him, then who could she trust?

“...My mother is getting sick, and… And it’s making her act strangely. She keeps threatening to marry me off, or… Or throw me out, and....” Daphne said quietly, unable to look over at him. “She can’t… She can’t legally do it, not right now. I’m too young, but… She says that if I can’t get my act together, and start acting like a lady, then she’ll just… Once I turn sixteen…”

She could feel Neville’s frown as she spoke, causing her to trail off. Hesitantly, ever so carefully, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, hugging her close and pressing his nose to the side of her head, causing a few tears to slip down her cheeks.

“We wouldn’t let that happen.” He muttered. “Actually, more accurately, Harry would find a way to put a stop to it and the rest of us will just grab you and run.”

Daphne laughed, the sound quiet and a bit wet. “...Yeah, and Harry’s solutions usually involve murder, or removing limbs.”

“They’re certainly effective. He scared Theo’s dad out of trying to contact him for a while, it seems. There was nothing he could do about it anyways, since no spell was actually spoken, and nobody else knows about Harry’s wandless magic…”

“I know, but still…” She sniffed, wiping her eyes. “I don’t… I don’t want anything to happen to her. I know she’s just sick, and that she’s not… She’s not really in control of herself, or her emotions, but…”

She shuddered, the tears starting to flow more freely now, and Neville hugged her even tighter, resting his head atop hers as he pulled her against his chest, letting her cling to him and sob.

She’d been keeping all of these feelings in for months, and it was getting harder and harder to cope with them.

“Why didn’t you say anything sooner, Daph..?” Neville asked quietly, gently running his hand over her hair.

“There was… There was just so much else going on.” Daphne hiccupped, her shoulders shaking. “With the Dementors, and Sirius Black, and… And so much else is happening… I didn’t want to add my own problems to the plate… Merlin, and now there’s the whole Pettigrew situation…”

“Don’t worry about any of that right now. Okay? You… You pushed your own feelings aside for way too long.” He frowned, shaking his head firmly. “We dealt with all of that. If Black shows up, then we can… I dunno. We’ll deal with that if it happens. This is a problem for right now, and it’s a problem that we can actually figure out.”

She chuckled a bit, wiping her eyes and looking up at him. “Since when are you all determined like this..?”

“I usually have Harry and Blaise to do it for me. I’m the only one here right now, so… What do you want to do? Because we need to tell the others what’s going on. Even Lord and Lady Malfoy. They’ll know what to do.”

Daphne nodded slightly, looking away. Telling her friends the truth of what was going on was something she was always going to have to do, and it was important, but…

“...I’m scared, Nev.” She whispered. “Some of the things she does, and some of the things she says… It doesn’t feel like my mother anymore, but… But I don’t want anything bad to happen to her, you know?”

“I know. But…” He hesitated for a moment, like he was trying to figure out what exactly to say. “Do you feel safe when you’re at home? Like, even when she is acting normally..?”

She shook her head, running a hand through her hair again.

“It feels like she’s going to switch on me like a sickle. One second she’s my Mum, happy and gentle and loving, and the next she’s… She’s someone else. It’s why I came here instead of going home with Tori. She doesn’t act like that when I’m not there.”

“Do the healers know what it is..?”

“Not yet.” Daphne sighed, biting her lip. “They’re still running tests on her. She’s always worse after a visit to St. Mungo’s.”

Neville frowned, shaking his head and letting out a soft puff of air.

“...If she does try to marry you off… I’ll marry you.” He said after a moment, causing a startled laugh to escape from her.

“...What..?” She asked bewilderedly.

He puffed up a bit, nodding firmly.

“You’re one of my best friends, Daph. Harry and Theo are too in love with one another to even consider it, even though we know Harry is more than willing to kidnap you to protect you, but… If your mother does try and marry you off, we can run off somewhere, sign some papers, and be legally married for a couple of years. Or, we can just stay married, and you can be Lady Longbottom, whatever you wanna do.”

Daphne stared at him for a moment, a soft frown forming on her lips. “Nev… You don’t need to do something like that…”

“Yeah, well… Technically I don’t need to do anything.” Neville huffed at her, the sound having no bite to it. “But if it means making sure that you don’t get married off to some weird, old pervert by your mother having some sort of manic episode, then I can do it. Nothing would have to change between us, and then you would have my family to protect you.”

Her expression softened a bit, before another sigh escaped her and she thunked her head against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around hers once again, holding her close.

“...Nothing would change between us..? Like… You wouldn’t expect me to… Y’know…”

“Merlin, no. Daph, I love you to bits, but not like that.” He grimaced. “I’m not even sure I like girls…”

“...I like girls.” Daphne hummed. “At least, I think. I dunno. I think I just really dislike people.”

Neville snorted. “Me too. I much prefer my plants.”

“And I prefer fantastic beasts.”

“So, are we in agreement?”

“If my mother tries to marry me off, the two of us will get married, and we’ll just be legally bonded besties with no strings attached? Yeah.”

“Perfect. Now we just have to figure out how to explain this in such a way that won’t make Harry want to commit another homicide.”

“...Ah. Our greatest challenge yet.”

—

Luna hummed quietly as she made her way through the snowy gardens, the cold breeze brushing against her ankles and making her shiver a bit.

She didn’t know exactly what made her want to out wandering the grounds when the weather was so foul, but, she always trusted her strange notions. Her mum had always trusted hers, and the one time she hadn’t, she’d wound up dead.

And that wasn’t something she was very keen on repeating.

So, she was out on the grounds, one of her new hoodies thrown on over her clothes to keep her warm as she wandered around, letting her instincts guide her forward. It’s why she wasn’t too surprised when she found Narcissa, sitting on a bench beneath a large, barren tree, and seemingly looking through a few pictures.

“...Hello, Narcissa.” She said softly, startling the woman a bit and causing her to look up with a smile.

“Hello, Luna dear… What can I do for you?”

“I’m not sure. I felt like I needed to come find you, but I’m not quite sure why.”

Narcissa nodded, before scooting over and patting the spot next to her, letting the younger girl come over and sit down. Once she was seated, she gently wrapped her cloak around her as well, for some extra warmth.

“Well, I’ll never complain about some company.” She hummed, looking back down at the pictures in her hands. Luna leaned over to look at them, resting her head on the woman’s shoulder as she did so.

The first picture was of three girls, two of them in their early to mid teens, and looking almost like twins. Dark curly hair, hooded grey eyes, and fierce scowls on their faces that turned to brilliant grins when their little sister, who looked like a seven year old Narcissa, looked up at them.

The next one was of an older Narcissa with the younger of her sisters, who was pressing a kiss to the top of her head and smiling proudly at the Slytherin tie that her baby sister was wearing.

Many of the pictures were just of the two of them, with the oldest sister only appearing a couple more times, looking increasingly more… Frantic, as the years went on, while the other just seemed to get sadder and sadder.

Narcissa sighed, rubbing her face and closing her eyes.

“Don’t mind me… I was just… Reminiscing.” She said quietly, flipping back to the first picture. “...It’s been a long time since I’ve seen either of my sisters.”

Luna nodded, a hum escaping her. “...Bellatrix and Andromeda?”

“Exactly… Bellatrix I’m fine with never seeing again, especially after what she did, but Andi… I…”

“Why don’t you try and reach out to her?”

“I-...” Narcissa hesitated. “Because… I’m afraid that even if I do, she won’t want to speak to me, even if I do deserve it.”

“Why would you deserve it?”

“Because… When she ran away from home, she married a muggleborn, and… Foolishly, I went along with my family’s demands to pretend that she never existed. That I didn’t have a second sister.”

Luna frowned. “But do you regret it? Cutting her off?”

“Of course.”

“Then tell her that.”

“It’s not that simple, love…”

She frowned even more at that, looking back down at the pictures in the woman’s hand. Of the three girls, and then the two, and the deep love that the two of them obviously had for one another.

That kind of bond was hard to break.

And as she began to speak again, the words easily flowed off her tongue.

“...You were still a kid when she left.” Luna said softly. “You went with what your family said, because you were a kid. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you regret it now. You should reach out to her. Write a letter.”

Narcissa paused, looking over at her. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Mhm… I would give anything to be able to spend more time with my Mum, and… I don’t want anything bad to happen, and either one of you spend the rest of your life wishing for more time.”

Even though Luna couldn’t see it, Narcissa’s expression fell, her eyes softening exponentially as she tucked the photographs away into her pocket before reaching out and wrapping the girl into a tight hug.

“You know… I think I may just go write that letter.” She said quietly. “Life is too short not to spend it with the people you love…”

“Exactly. And I think she’ll be happy to hear from you.”

“Thank you, Luna… Now, you’re absolutely covered in gooseflesh, and I refuse to let any of you freeze to death on my watch. We’re going inside and having some tea.”

“Can I have cocoa? With whipped cream?”

“Absolutely.” Narcissa smiled, standing up carefully and taking her cloak off, wrapping it around Luna’s shoulders as the girl hooked their arms together, the two of them heading back towards the manor, soft laughs bubbling up out of the both of them as they spoke.

And Luna let out a soft sigh of relief as the strange, tugging sensation at her brain disappeared.

She’d done what her instincts had wanted her to do, and now she could relax again.

Thank goodness.

Chapter Text

Returning to Hogwarts was, surprisingly, uneventful.

The whole school seemed to be in a much better state of mind after the break, with most of the campus having gone home to recuperate after the stress at the end of the last semester.

There was laughter, and singing, and the excited chatter of friends reunited after a few weeks apart, as well as murmurs about Professor Volkov, who most of the campus seemed to have decided was ‘The Hot Professor’.

Although Harry could not see it to save his life.

Granted, that was also because the first time he saw the man, it was a halfhearted glance as he introduced himself during the welcome back feast, before he immediately turned back towards Theo, watching him as he engrossed himself into his book, just barely biting the tip of his tongue as he focused on the words within.

And really, in his mind, no one compared to Theo.

Although, despite the swooning over half of the students were doing over the new Professor, he was actually a competent teacher!

Which, truly, was a welcome respite.

“I know that you all have heard the spiel that Professor McGonagall gives at the beginning of every year, about how Transfiguration is one of the most difficult subjects to master, and how it takes more effort than you would think to even begin to transform things.” Professor Volkov said as he walked around the front of the room, his hair tied back in a small knot at the base of his skull, and a smile on his face. “However, I am here to tell you that it is not nearly as difficult as she makes it sound.”

“In fact, Transfiguration? Is nothing more than intention. If you know what you want the object you are transforming to do, and are willing to force the necessary magic into it? You can transform anything into anything.”

Harry paused, tilting his head to the side as he thought about what the man had said. It made perfect sense, honestly.

After all, he had been doing magic for years without incantations, purely by willing it to happen…

Why hadn’t he applied it to Transfiguration before?

As per usual, Hermione shot her hand into the air, and Professor Volkov called on her.

“Yes, Miss Granger?”

“But Professor McGonagall always says that we have to use precise wand movements and incantations in order to transform something properly. How can intent be all that makes it work?” She asked, a small frown on her face.

That made a grin spread across their professor’s.

“Because, as long as you know what you are trying to transfigure something into, you can change it. Take my shoe, for example.” He hummed, peeling off his loafer and setting it on a desk in the middle of the room, gesturing to it. “It is made of leather, and rubber. Two very simple materials. But… I do not want it to be a loafer anymore! What do I want it to be?”

Blaise leaned forward, raising a brow. “A teapot?”

“What kind of teapot, Mr. Zabini?”

“Ceramic. With a floral pattern.”

“Perfect! Now, I want you all to picture the exact kind of teapot Mr. Zabini mentioned. A white, ceramic teapot, with… Ah… Blue flowers. Forget-me-not’s! Think of the smooth glaze, the cool feeling of the ceramic, and the shape. The rounded, slightly bulbous shape.”

Harry hummed, a smile spreading across his lips. That was almost exactly the teapot that his mum used to use, except hers had hydrangeas instead of forget-me-not’s.

“And then, once you have the image?” Professor Volkov flicked his wand at his loafer, and before their very eyes, the black leather shoe spun twice and became a ceramic teapot, which gently clattered back onto the table next to him.

Gasps of awe, shock, and pure amazement spread around the room, and Draco shot his hand into the air, sitting up properly when their professor nodded at him.

“So, as long as we can picture what we need to transform something into, we can change it?” He asked, almost vibrating in his seat.

“Just about, yes.” The man chuckled. “Although understanding the materials and feel of what you are changing it into would help as well. For example, I could change this teapot into an umbrella, but I would not be able to change it into, say, a muggle rifle.”

“But if you knew what something like that felt like, you could?” Harry tilted his head.

“Absolutely. But, I would not recommend doing that. Complicated machinery, especially muggle, is hell to transform, and you are very likely to mess it up, and put yourself at risk.”

Harry hummed a bit, nodding as he settled back into his seat. Theo looked at him with a raised brow, and he shook his head, not quite wanting to explain exactly why he knew what a rifle felt like, or why he would want to transfigure one, and the matter was quickly dropped.

Especially since their attentions were all grabbed as pieces of parchment began to flutter around the room, one landing on each of their desks in front of them.

“For your first assignment.” Professor Volkov hummed. “I want you all to try and turn this piece of parchment into a teacup. It can be any kind of teacup, with any sort of pattern, or shape, but the only requirements are that it must be made of ceramic, and it must not have any papery feeling to it. Now, go!”

Harry sat up again, tilting his head as he looked at the parchment. He immediately thought of making a matching cup for the teapot on the table in the middle of the room, but his mind drifted back to summer nights at Malfoy Manor. Of sitting in the parlor with Narcissa, trying different teas whenever the opportunity arose purely because neither one of them could sleep.

Everything had felt so… Simple, then.

A smile pulled at his lips, and he carefully picked up the parchment, setting his wand on his desk, and allowed his magic to wrap around it until the paper had condensed itself into one of the Japanese style tea cups that Narcissa favored.

When he looked around at his friends, a small chuckle escaped him as he realized that both Draco and Theo had picked the same style of cup. Blaise’s was a more traditionally styled one, with purple and gold embellishments, while Daphne’s teacup matched the teapot in the middle of the room.

He was about to open his mouth to speak, but was startled by the sudden presence of Professor Volkov, who had such a bright smile on his face that it looked like it was going to split in two.

“Excellent work! Twenty-five points to Slytherin!” He laughed, and then, when some of the Gryffindors let out small sounds of protest, he explained further. “Five for each of you who got the cups first. Was it not easier than any harsh incantations?”

“It really was.” Blaise smiled, preening a bit under the praise as he cradled his cup in his hand. “Does this method work for all magic?”

“Most, yes. All magic is just about intent.”

“So… Wandless and non-verbal magic is all just intent as well?” He asked, his eyes briefly flicking over to Harry before turning back towards their professor.

“Absolutely! Are you knowledgeable in the subject?”

“Just the theories. I’m fascinated by it, though.”

Professor Volkov nodded, humming a bit. “We teach non-verbal magic at Koldovstoretz, and wandless magic in the final years. I think that would be something useful here at Hogwarts… Would you be interested in a few books on the subjects, Mr. Zabini? I can cast a few charms on them to translate them to english.”

Blaise looked over at him again, and Harry eagerly nodded.

He’d had no idea that a school taught non-verbal magic and wandless magic.

He absolutely wanted to read everything about it.

“I would love that, Professor.” He beamed. “Thank you so much.”

“Wonderful! I will have them translated for you by tomorrow afternoon. Just come by whenever you have a moment.” He smiled at him, before he wandered off to go and help some of the students who were struggling with this new method of Transfiguration.

Harry, however, felt like he was going to vibrate straight out of his seat, and Theo let out a soft chuckle, before he leaned over and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek.

“Should I expect to lose my boyfriend for a few hours when Blaise gets those books?” He asked teasingly, causing the other boy to roll his eyes, a small smile on his face.

“Almost definitely.”

“Damn. Ah, well, all in the name of research, I suppose…”

—

The Great Hall had, for all intents and purposes, been turned into one giant classroom for the day, and Daphne couldn’t wait.

Professor Lupin had sent her a note the night before, letting her know that they would be teaching the Patronus Charm the next day, and she hadn’t stopped grinning ever since. She was going to get the chance to help teach everyone a highly advanced spell! How could she not be completely overjoyed?

She hummed softly as she sat perched up on the stage that Professors McGonagall and Snape had conjured, swinging her feet a bit as she waited for them to let the students in.

Instead of doing it year by year, like the original plan had been, they had simply decided to do an entire, schoolwide Patronus Seminar, that way everyone who was able to successfully conjure a patronus could help out those who didn’t.

It was a good plan, in her opinion.

She looked around at the other professors with a small smile on her face, nodding as Professor Snape made his way over to her, standing next to her and leaning back against the stage.

“You’re completely sure that you’re comfortable doing this?” He asked quietly, looking over at her. “No one will blame you if you feel uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m excited.” Daphne replied honestly. “I’ve been looking forward to this since November, and I really, really want to be able to see everyone’s patronuses. Or is it patroni?”

“Patroni sounds like an Italian pasta dish. I believe it’s patronuses.”

“Cool. I thought so too.”

She hummed, grabbing her wand from its holster and flicking it, murmuring the incantation and watching her unicorn spring from the tip. It was shockingly easy to conjure, especially now that she’d done it before, but she knew that it was only as easy as it was because she wasn’t being preyed upon by hundreds of dementors all at once.

Snape hummed appreciatively at the sight of the creature, reaching his hand out and letting it gently brush against its flank as it trotted past, only looking up again when the doors to the Great Hall opened, and the hordes of students began to make their way in.

Her friends, thankfully, pushed their way up to the front, with Luna excitedly jumping up and down and waving her arms to grab her attention. Once she looked over at them, the rest of the group began to do a strange sort of wiggle dance, which made her burst into giggles.

Daphne quickly made her unicorn disappear as she climbed up onto the stage properly, watching the professors herd everyone inside before coming up onto the stage as well, Professor Lupin making his way up last and smiling at everyone as they got settled in.

After everyone quieted themselves down, he began to speak.

“Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you’re all excited for what we have planned for you all, because I know that myself, and everyone else you see up here, are excited to teach you this special bit of magic.” He explained. “Now, are you all familiar with the Patronus Charm?”

When most of the group was silent, he nodded.

"Well, when the spell works correctly, It conjures up what’s Patronus." Lupin said. "Which is a kind of Anti-Dementor- a guardian that acts as a shield between you and the Dementor. In fact, the incantation, Expecto Patronum, means ‘I await a guardian’ in Latin.”

“The spell is incredibly difficult.” Flitwick suddenly added, startling Daphne for a moment, as she had forgotten their vertically challenged charms professor was even there at the moment. “Most adult wixen are unable to produce a corporeal patronus.”

Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor Head Boy, raised his hand, and Lupin nodded at him.

“If most adult wixen are unable to produce a corporeal patronus, why are we learning how to do it?” The young man asked. “The Dementors are no longer at the school. I can’t see a reason for us to learn such a complicated spell.”

Before any of the professors could answer, Daphne spoke up.

“Because, even if the Dementors are gone, knowing how to do the spell is important.” She said firmly. “It’s a reminder of the fact that good things do exist, even if the world is going to hell. Because we all need that reminder sometimes, otherwise we lose ourselves to the stress of it all.”

Percy, thankfully, nodded, his expression a little sheepish as he averted his gaze. McGonagall gave her an approving look before she, too, stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention to her.

“Continuing Professor Lupin’s point, every wixen’s Patronus represents them on a deep, emotional level. Our souls, our very happiest memories, are what fuels their might, and as such, they are the most pure representations of ourselves that magic can produce.” She said with a small smile, drawing her wand and summoning her own Patronus, the familiar tabby cat bounding around over everyone’s heads.

Following her lead, the rest of the professors, and Daphne, summoned their own Patronuses. Snape’s doe bounded around happily, with her Unicorn close behind. Flitwicks eagle soared overhead, and Sprout’s honey badger scampered around, with Neville reaching up and running his hand through the wispy magic.

For some reason, Lupin’s wolf was only a wisp of silver light, as though he didn’t actually want to summon his.

After a round of applause, and everyone recalling their guardians back to their wands, Lupin took over once again.

“Now, as I said, the incantation is Expecto Patronum, and when you cast the spell, you need to use your happiest memory, whatever that may be.” He explained. “It will be different for every one of you, so I can’t tell you what exactly to focus on, but as you practice the spell, we’ll all be coming around to help, and we’ll do what we can to help you focus on that memory.”

At his words, everyone began to spread out, their wands in their hands as they waited for the signal. When McGonagall nodded, a wild chorus of voices, all chanting the spell, filled the air.

Daphne hummed, climbing off the stage and making her way over to her friends, who were all fervently attempting to cast it, but were really only making small, silvery wisps.

“Hey, guys.” She grinned. “Need some help?”

“Please.” Draco groaned, running a hand through his hair and mussing it up a bit. “I can’t figure out a proper memory to use…”

“That’s the thing. You don’t have to pick one single memory. All you need are what makes you happy.”

There was a brief pause as they all looked at her in confusion, and Daphne just sighed good naturedly, shaking her head as she made her way over to Draco.

“Keep trying on your own, I’ll make it over to you in a minute.” She said softly, and once everyone was back to focusing on their own wands, their own magic, she leaned up against Draco’s cheek, smiling when she felt him press against her a little harder.

Her voice was soft, barely above a whisper as she spoke.

“A Patronus is a tricky potion that turned out just right… Or the smell of your mum’s favorite tea, brewing early in the morning.” Daphne smiled up at him. “It’s the sound of your parent’s tipsy laughter in the parlor late at night, and the warmth of your friend’s bodies against yours after a stressful day.”

Draco’s eyes shone a bit as the realization dawned on him, and before she could say anything more, he whispered the incantation, and a brilliant peacock sprung from his wand, it’s tail feathers spread wide as it let out a cry, before it’s wings opened and it flew a lap around the room.

The looks of awe that spread across her friends’ faces made her light up, and she carefully made her way around to each one of them, whispering the things she knew made them the happiest.

“It’s the feeling of moonlight on your skin, of a fresh pack of jelly slugs that you share in the garden while your mum sings a lullaby. The softness of a friend’s warm sweater, and the way the sky opens as rain begins to fall, cleansing the earth of everything that’s dark and frightening.”

“The sound of the ocean crashing against the sand, and the sensation of wind rushing around you as you lift off the ground. Of the arms that wrap you in the safest embrace you’ll ever know, and the joy of seeing the world with a freedom few others will ever experience, and sharing it as much as you can.”

“Like dirt under your nails, or a fresh baked plate of cookies. It’s the ache of a hard day’s work, and the satisfaction of knowing that you’ve done something good for the ones you love. It’s the candy wrappers you carefully place in that scrapbook, the little bits of love that she’s still able to show you.”

“It’s the scent of old, dusty books on rituals so old that the names of them are lost to time. His laugh when something really, truly makes him happy, and the way his eyes shine when he looks at you. It’s the weight of a pocket knife that you grasp when you’re scared, and the knowledge that no matter what you have to face, you're not alone anymore.”

There were tears in her eyes as she watched their Patronuses bound around them. A hare and a wolf, joining in a game of tag with the peacock that flew above their heads. A sheepdog that sat protectively, its tail beating against the ground, while a fox curled up around its leg.

And then, she looked over at Harry. The only one of her friends who hadn’t yet conjured his own protector, and she made her way to him, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind and leaning her head against his, a soft hum escaping her.

“Cigarettes and an old leather jacket.” Daphne said quietly. “A wild, uncoordinated dance done to music you’ve never heard before, surrounded by the people you love most in the world. It’s the cold metal of your Mum and Dad’s rings around your neck, and the warmth of their love that wraps around you to this day.”

His breathing shuddered a bit as tears began to spill down his cheeks, and she hugged him tighter, feeling his hand reach up to grasp at her arms desperately.

But, she didn’t stop speaking, even as she buried her face into his shoulder.

“It’s the way you cried when we saved Nestor. How you faced a monster in the depths of the castle just to save someone you love. The way you cradled Prue in your arms every moment you could, just because when you looked at her, you were so amazed by her very existence. And it’s how you feel when you see Theo’s mussed up hair and scowling face first thing in the morning. A Patronus is love, Harry. It’s always been love.”

As she lifted her head, a smile spread across her lips as she saw what flew from his wand.

Twin crows, locked in a swirling dance around them before they, too, settled down next to them.

And when she summoned her unicorn to join them once again, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Because she knew exactly what her patronus was made of.

It, just like all of the others, was made of love. Of the shared laughter of little girls late at night, and the warmth of a boy who promised to give her the world if she needed it.

It was the feeling that rose in her chest at the sight of the bright smiles on her friend’s faces, knowing that they now had their own lights to guide them in even their darkest moments.

Because there was no greater joy than knowing that the people she loved would always make their way back to her.

And that was the most wonderful thing of all.

Chapter Text

Harry had never been more confused in his life.

He had just snuck his way back into the dorms after spending a few hours in his and Hermione’s hidden alcove, mostly to get a bit of extra studying in, as they had a review in Arithmancy the next morning, and there was a suspiciously broom shaped package laying on his bed, the curtains drawn snugly around it.

Along with Hermione’s cat, curled up in a cute little orange ball on his pillow and purring like a motorcycle engine.

In his sleep-addled mind, he thought for a moment that the cat had brought him the broom, but he quickly shook his head.

That made absolutely no sense. Crookshanks didn’t have any money, how could he have bought a broom?

He groaned a bit, rubbing the back of his neck as he carefully climbed up into his bed, picking up the pillow that Crooks was on and setting it in his lap.

“Hey there, sweet boy…” He murmured, gently scratching the cat’s head and smiling when he made a little ‘mrrp?’ sound. “How did you get in here? Did you bring me this?”

Crookshanks just continued to purr, his paws kneading the pillow as he stretched himself out. Harry sighed affectionately, grabbing the broom shaped package and carefully unwrapping it, his eyes widening when he saw what was inside.

A Firebolt.

A bloody, fucking, Firebolt.

A five hundred Galleon, top of the line, professional grade Firebolt broom, was sitting on his bed.

As he pulled the rest of the wrapping away, an envelope that had been safely tucked inside caught his eye, and as he set the broom to the side, he picked it up. On it was a slightly messy, cursive scrawl of his name that reminded him of Draco’s handwriting when he was trying to write quickly, because his brain was moving faster than his hand.

For a moment, he thought that it may have been a gift from the Malfoys, but that line of thinking disappeared immediately afterwards.

If it was, then Draco and Blaise would have gotten Firebolts as well.

After he adjusted his glasses, and popped the wax seal of the letter open, he began to read, his eyes widening with every word he read.

-

Harry,

Merry Christmas, and Blessed Yule, pup.

Sorry your gift came a bit later. I wanted to buy it for you sooner, but with everything going on at the Ministry after Fudge and Dumbledore were ousted, I didn’t want to risk being caught. Things are a bit scary right now, huh?

I know you’ve seen it in the papers, but Amelia Bones is the Minister of Magic now. Couldn’t have been a better woman, y’know? She’s a right brilliant witch, and we needed someone with a good head on her shoulders. Especially after Fudge and Bagnold back in the early eighties.

Enough about that, though. I’m so, so sorry for what happened that day on the pitch. I didn’t mean to lure the Dementors there, I hadn’t even realized that they were following me. You, and your friends, nearly died because of me, and I can’t forgive myself for that. It felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest when you fell, and I just… I keep seeing it in my mind, over and over again.

I know that I took the Oath, but I had never actually expected to feel my magic being stripped away. I’m perfectly fine, don’t worry, but… I’m glad to know that mine is still active. It means that Magic hasn’t declared me unfit, which, still comforts me.

You’ve always been the most important person in the world to me, Harry. From the moment you were born, you were the sun I revolved around. The fact that I’ve put you in danger kills me, because I know that James and Lily are on the other side cursing me out for doing something so foolish with you around.

So… Consider the Firebolt the beginning of my penance for nearly killing you, along with the destruction of your Nimbus. Fine broom that was, but I hope this can replace it.

And, I have twelve years of Christmases and Birthdays to make up for.

Stay safe, pup. If you need to get a letter to me, give it to Crookshanks. Brilliant little cat, he is. I think he might be half kneazle.

Love, your Godfather,

Sirius

-

Harry wiped his eyes, taking a slow, deep breath as he set the letter down.

He hadn’t had proof that Sirius was his Oathsworn Godfather until this point, and that was it.

Which, now meant that he had a few more conversations to have.

He could talk to his friends first thing in the morning, and then he would go to Lupin.

The two of them still needed to continue their conversation from a few months ago, because Harry had more questions he needed to ask his other Godfather, and he was going to get the answers he needed.

One way, or another.

—

“Sirius Black sent me a Firebolt.” Harry hummed, before he shoved a bite of roasted potatoes and sausage into his mouth, pretending that he was entirely unaware of the frozen, shocked faces of his friends, who all stared at him like he had just announced that the end of the world was upon them.

Neville was the first to regain his composure, and yet, despite that, he still whipped his head towards Harry and had an expression on his face that could only be described as Subdued Panic.

“What do you mean Sirius Black sent you a Firebolt?” He whisper-hissed. “Did you tell any of the professors?”

“Nope.”

“And why did you not?”

“Because it’s not cursed or anything, so they don’t need to know where it came from.”

“But it’s from Black?”

“He sent a letter with it.” Harry replied helpfully, and Neville let out a wheezy sound like a deflating balloon. Without missing a beat, he pulled the letter from the pocket of his jeans and held it out, letting Theo snatch it from his hands and start reading it.

And then, just like he knew would happen, his boyfriend went still as a statue, his eyes flicking over the words scribbled across the parchment.

“...Harry, my love?”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t you tell us that Sirius Black is your fucking Oathsworn Godfather?”

Harry smiled at them, watching as shock spread across their faces.

They were all pureblood wix. They knew exactly what that meant.

Blaise ran a hand over his hair, murmuring to himself in Italian as he tried to figure out what, exactly, all of that meant.

It took a moment, but Luna spoke up.

“That means that Sirius didn’t betray your Mother and Father.” She declared. “Because by doing so, that would have harmed you, which would have made it impossible without either stripping his magic, or killing him.”

“Exactly.” Harry smiled. “He’s perfectly safe. I’m not in any danger from him escaping. Plus, I got a broom out of it, so we can absolutely smoke our way through the rest of Quidditch this year.”

Draco swatted him on the back of the head. “You are taking that fucking broom to Uncle Sev and having him check it over one more time, or else I’m snitching. I am not losing another shoulder you falling from a thousand feet. You may trust him, but I sure as hell don’t.”

“Your mum trusts him!”

“My mum trusts you!”

“...Okay, fair point. To Snape I go. Oh, and I think I’m gonna go talk to Lupin at some point today too? Just, letting you guys know what the plan is.” Harry hummed, swinging his legs over the bench and heading up to the staff table, digging around in his bag until his hand wrapped around the handle of his Firebolt. “Uh… Professor Snape?”

The Potions professor lifted his head, arching a brow as he looked at his student. “Yes, Mr. Hartford?”

“Can you check a gift I was sent for any curses or hexes? I did a check last night, but my friends will all kill me if I don’t have a Professor look it over…”

“Ah. Understandably so. What was the gift you were sent?”

He hummed a bit, pulling the Firebolt from his bag and adjusting his grip on it so that he could show it to his Head of House, relishing in the way the man’s eyes bulged out of his head for a moment. Snape paused, grabbing his wand and casting a few spells over the broom, watching as it changed colors from red, to a soft orange, and then to a pleasant looking green before he hummed approvingly.

“It seems that your Firebolt is in peak condition, Mr. Hartford. I’m pleased to know that you were able to replace your fallen Nimbus so easily, and with an even higher quality broom.” Snape said simply. “I’ll have to write Mr. Flint a permission slip so you all can go out and practice more for the next game. You need to get used to your new broom, after all.”

Harry grinned. “Thank you, sir. Oh, and…” He trailed off, looking around to see if he could spot Lupin. “If you see Professor Lupin, would you tell him that I need to speak with him?”

“What do you need to speak with him about?”

“I just have a few questions for him.” Harry smiled. “About a… Mutual friend of ours.”

Snape’s eyes darkened considerably, and it caused the boy to flinch in surprise. He’d never seen his professor with such a… Sinister expression.

“I would hope that it’s not about Sirius Black.” He drawled, staring at Harry, and causing a strange, tingling feeling at the edges of his mind. The boy blinked a few times, shaking his head and shooting a glare at his head of house.

“Stop trying to give me a migraine. It’s personal business.”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, which was when Daphne came jogging up, grabbing Harry’s shoulder and whispering in his ear as she tucked the Marauder’s Map back into his bag.

“Lupin’s in his office. If you go now, you can talk with him before we go down to Care.”

He paused, nodding at her with a smile, before turning back to Professor Snape and tucking his Firebolt back into his bag, making sure to keep it away from his books and other supplies.

“Thanks again, Professor, and don’t worry about talking to Lupin. I’m going to go and see him now.” He said with a smile, not at all noticing that Daphne let out a sight of relief, giving Snape a thumbs up over his shoulder. “See you in Potions!”

And with that, Harry turned on his heel, and headed back towards his friends. He stopped to give Theo a quick kiss and to take his letter from Sirius back, before he walked right out of the Great Hall and up towards the Defense Classroom.

—

Remus felt like he’d been hit by a truck. Something about the full moon a few nights before had just… Wrecked him, worse than usual.

Maybe it was the stress of teaching all of the students the Patronus Charm, or maybe it was the fact that Sirius still hadn’t been caught after being free for so long.

Or, well… He did know why it had been so painful, but he simply wanted to pretend that it wasn’t the case.

Ever since his and Severus’ conversation before the Winter Holidays, when he had been named the Head of Gryffindor House, he’d been going over all of his memories from his school days. Every single prank, every joke, every single thing they had ever done.

And Severus had been completely fucking right. He and his friends had been cruel. No, more than cruel…

They had been downright abusive.

And they hadn’t been punished for it at all, despite deserving it more than anyone else.

He let out a slow, shuddering breath, resting his head on his desk and covering it with his arms, his mind reeling as he thought about The Prank for what felt like the thousandth time that year alone.

Sirius and Peter had both lured Severus into the Whomping Willow’s path on the night of the full moon, and the only reason the other man hadn’t been ripped apart by Remus’ wolf was because James had discovered what they’d done, and rushed to save him.

And, from what James had told him, Remus had only been a few seconds away from ripping Severus apart.

He shuddered, closing his eyes tightly as he fought back tears.

Why had they done that? What fucking point was there to nearly kill a fellow student?

And only a few days before, James had hung Severus in the air by his ankles, exposing the boy to a mass of their fellow students, only to rescue him from certain death without hesitation.

None of it made any sense, and yet, it just made Remus feel sick.

As he sat there, his mind drifting further and further into the past and the horrible ‘jokes’ that he and his friends had played, there was a sharp knocking on the door to his office.

“Professor Lupin?” An all too familiar voice called. “Can I talk to you?”

“...Come on in, Harry.” He replied, watching as his godson slipped into the room, a smile on his face. It was strange, seeing the boy with such a bright expression when he wasn’t surrounded by his group of friends, but the sight of it spread a wave of comfort through his body. “What can I do for you this morning?”

“I was hoping we could continue our conversation from back in October..?” Harry asked quietly. “It… Ended abruptly, and I still have some more questions, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all, as long as you don’t mind me asking my own as well?”

“Same situation as last time?”

“Absolutely.”

The boy nodded a bit, settling down in the chair across from him and taking the cup of tea that Remus quickly made for him. They sat in silence for a moment, before Harry spoke again.

“...So… You’re a werewolf?”

Remus’ blood ran cold, and his eyes went wide.

“How did you..?” He asked quietly, his voice shaking.

“You’re always sick in time with the full moon.” Harry shrugged. “I’m really into Astronomy. I track the moon cycle. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think anyone else has realized it.”

“You haven’t told anyone..?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“...Thank you, Harry.” He said quietly. “I… I’m actually rather shocked that you haven’t. Most people would have, especially after the complete and utter disaster of our last one on one conversation.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Harry shook his head firmly, a frown on his face. “Werewolves have enough problems without me adding to them by being a snitch.”

Remus snorted, shaking his head with a smile.

“Still, thank you. Ah… I suppose it’s my turn, then?” He paused, before speaking again when the boy across from him nodded. “How have you been feeling? You seem to be feeling good today, but I just want to make sure.”

“Better, I guess. I mean, I still have moments where the world is overwhelming, and… I want to just lay on the floor like a corpse for a bit, but I’m not actively suicidal, so I consider that a win.”

Blunt and to the point. Remus loved it.

“Good, good, I’m glad… I suppose that’s the best we can hope for, considering the circumstances.”

Harry chuckled, shrugging a bit and sipping his tea.

“Yeah, well… My friends help.” He smiled, looking up at Remus and opening his mouth to speak.

But then, he hesitated, like the question he was about to ask was… Uncomfortable.

“...You’re my Godfather.” He began. “Oathsworn, right?”

Remus’ eyes widened a bit, and he nodded. “Uh… Yes, I am. How did you..?”

“Ah-ah. My turn. If you’re my Oathsworn Godfather, why did you never come to try and take me? Or even fight to try and keep me in the first place?”

That, was exactly as uncomfortable as he thought it was going to be. Uncomfortable, and incredibly complicated.

“Harry, I-...” Remus sighed, sitting up and setting his tea to the side, folding his arms on the table and looking at the boy in front of him. “...When James and Lily died, it sent me spiraling. In a single night, I had lost my family. My pack. My… My Coven.”

Harry’s eyes lit up a bit when he heard that part, and he made a mental note to ask about how the boy knew about covens when it was his turn next.

“Sirius was a traitor, James, Lily, and Peter were dead, and… I was alone. I went to Dumbledore afterwards, and I begged him to let me take you, because I was your Godfather, but he said that Lily’s magic had made it to where you needed to be with someone of her blood, so he was going to place you with your Aunt Petunia. Once he told me that, I knew there was nothing I could do, because Blood Magic is… It’s stronger than anything else I’ve ever seen, so… I left.”

“...Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?” Harry asked quietly, staring at him. “...Why did you just… Go with what Dumbledore said?”

“The man is a brilliant wizard, Harry. I know you don’t care for him, but-”

“Don’t care for him? I hate him. I hate him more than I’ve ever hated another living person. And now that I know that he was the piece of shit who abandoned me with those monsters-”

“Harry.” Remus chided.

“No! No, he’s not here, and I will insult him as I see fit!” Harry snapped back at him, before taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair. “He left me at the Dursleys, and no one came to check on me? Seriously?”

“We were all told you were somewhere safe. That you were loved, and being cared for.”

“Oh, yes! Loved and cared for! I had a whole fucking broom cupboard to myself!”

And he stilled at that, looking at his godson with a look of pure horror in his eyes.

“...A broom cupboard..?”

Harry’s shoulders shook a bit as he began to speak again, explaining that, the only memories of his life before living with his Mum and Dad were of a dark, cramped space, being fed little more than scraps, being made to work the garden and clean anything within his reach, and being beaten any time his magic made itself known.

Remus wanted to throw up.

He wanted to wrap the boy up in his arms and never let him go.

He wanted to find Petunia, and her piece of shit husband, and rip their throats out for what they had done.

Instead, he gently reached across the desk and grabbed Harry’s hand, squeezing it gently.

“Have you… Have you told this to anyone else..?” He asked quietly, his heart sinking when the boy shook his head.

“...Not anyone here… My… My Mum and Dad knew…” Harry sniffed, wiping his eyes. “You’re the first person I’ve told… Usually I don’t even, think about it, but…”

“Oh… Oh, pup…” Remus whispered. “I’m so sorry…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine…” He took a deep breath, sipping his tea again and shaking his head before turning to look at the clock. “I know… I know this isn’t what we laid out in the rules, but… Can I ask you one more question..? Before I have to go to class..?”

“Of course, Harry…”

“Did you know that Sirius was my Oathsworn Godfather as well?”

The silence that spread through the office was deafening, the only sound in the room was the soft ticking of the grandfather clock in the wall as Remus tried to make sense of what his godson had just asked.

And what the implications of that question had on everything he had believed for the last twelve years.

“...No. No I didn’t.” He whispered, his eyes going wide, and he watched with a dawning sense of horror as Harry reached into his bag and handed him a letter.

And god… His world felt like it had fallen apart as he read the words, written in an all too familiar handwriting, that told him the one thing he never would have believed otherwise.

James had Sirius take the Oath.

Sirius couldn’t have betrayed the Potters.

Now the only question on his mind was… Who was the one that betrayed them?

Chapter Text

A soft weight carefully settled around Harry, with gentle fingers caressing his cheeks, slowly bringing him back to the waking world.

He let out a soft groan, nuzzling his face against the hand on his cheek, and letting his eyes flutter open, smiling when Theo's gaze met his own.

From what he could tell, his boyfriend had caged him onto the bed, his arms next to his head, while his knees trapped his own legs.

“...Good morning, lovely.” Theo murmured, kissing Harry’s forehead with a soft hum. “Happy Valentine's Day…”

“Mmm… Happy Valentine’s Day, Theo…” He smiled, shimmying his arms up to wrap them around the other boy, hugging him close before yanking him onto the bed as well so they were both on their sides, their faces nearly pressed together. “My favorite blurry blob…”

There was a soft snort from just in front of him before Theo helped him get his glasses on, making everything come into view again.

“You're so lame…” He teased gently. “Get up, okay..? We have a Hogsmeade visit today, and I am taking you on our first proper date.”

“Mmm… Did you have a specific plan set for today?”

“A bit, yes. So… Get up? Please?”

Harry sighed happily, closing his eyes as he pressed a quick kiss to Theo’s lips.

“For you? Always…” He murmured, carefully wiggling himself out of his boyfriend’s grip and rolling off the bed, flicking his wrist to summon some clothes from his wardrobe before hobbling to the bathroom to get ready.

When he emerged a few minutes later, Theo was sitting up on his bed, quickly tying his shoes before running his hands through his hair again, chewing on his lip in apparent nervousness. Realizing that the other boy hadn’t noticed Harry yet, a grin spread across his lips, and he slowly padded over to him.

And just as his boyfriend turned to look at him, he pounced, throwing his arms around his neck and hoisting himself up onto his back. Theo was just barely able to catch him, his hands slapping against Harry’s thighs as he let out a loud yelp of surprise before he was able to steady them both, letting out a mock huff of anger.

“You absolute menace.” He grunted, turning to look at Harry, a smile cracking through the scowl on his face as he bounced him further up onto his back, that way he wouldn’t fall. “Warn me next time?”

“I will. I just wanted to see if that worked. I knew you wouldn’t let me fall.”

“Prick.”

“Aw, I love you too.”

Theo rolled his eyes, hooking Harry’s ankles around his waist before grabbing his boyfriend’s bag, holding his hands out for a moment to steady himself before he began to make his way down the stairs into the common room.

Blaise was the first to notice them, his eyebrow arching almost off his forehead.

“Uh… Theo, mate. Seems like you have a growth on your back.” He said, fighting off a smile. “Did you have a potions accident?”

“It would seem that I have.” Theo replied solemnly. “I think it may be fatal.”

“How horrible. Can nothing be done?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Such a shame.” Blaise tutted, before a chuckle escaped him. “Have fun in Hogsmeade, you two. Don’t be nasty.”

“I’ll have you know that we’re going to be perfectly clean.” Harry protested, sticking his tongue out. “We’re just going on a date.”

“Hm. Disgusting.” Daphne hummed from where she was sitting next to Blaise, shifting her body so her legs were across his lap. He, in turn, adjusted himself to be able to look at the book she had in her lap, gently drumming on her calves as they read. “By the way, Harry. We’ll leave this on your bed for you. It’s all about Uagadou and how they teach their students magic. It even has diagrams of the different spells and hand movements.”

“Ohhh, that’ll be awesome.”

“Now go, be gay. Do crimes. Have fun.” She waved them off. “We might see you down there later, we haven’t decided if we’re going to expose ourselves to your lovey-doveyness today.”

Harry and Theo both chuckled at that, shaking their heads as the latter carefully set the former back on the ground, giving him his bag before taking his hand.

“See you later!” They both called, scurrying out of the common room and heading up to the Great Hall to join the rest of the students who were making their way out.

None of the first or second years could join them this time, as their temporary Hogsmeade Permission Slips ran out when the new year began, but as the two boys walked, they heard many an older sibling being made to promise to bring back sweets and other things from the village, and Harry bit back a small chuckle.

“Aw… I’m sad that I missed going to Hogsmeade with Lue and Tori.” He sighed. “It would be just like second year all over again.”

“Merlin, when the gateway to King’s Cross closed?” Theo asked. “That was the start of so much stress… Rosmerta was an angel about it, though.”

“That woman is always an angel. I don't think she has a mean bone in her body.”

“True, very true.”

The two of them walked side by side, with Harry gently swinging their arms as they headed down the hill, the light layer of snow still on the ground gently crunching under their feet.

The closer they got to Hogsmeade, the more couples they noticed on their way down, most of them blushing and talking to each other barely above a whisper, like they were overly excited, and also about to explode from anxiety at the fact that they were going on a date.

A few couples, especially the older ones, seemed far less nervous and giddy about the situation, but there was still a level of happiness ebbing off of them that could only be described as love.

Especially since Theo’s magic kept sparking with that same feeling every time he turned to look at Harry.

“So… What’s first on your Valentine’s itinerary, Theo?” He asked, raising a brow as he looked at his boyfriend.

“Well. I figured that I could be a good boyfriend and take you to Tomes and Scrolls to pick up a few new books that I may or may not have ordered a while ago.” Theo began, a grin spreading across his lips. “Then, I thought we could go to Honeydukes, pick up some candies for ourselves and our friends… Get some lunch at the Three Broomsticks… Find some dark corner to snog in…”

The last option made Harry perk up.

“Can we swap that last one to the beginning?” He asked, already starting to look around, his eyes lighting up even more as he spotted a clean alleyway between Honeydukes and Zonko’s, already starting to pull his laughing boyfriend over to it.

“For you? Absolutely.”

Theo snickered a bit, letting Harry push him up against the wall and press their lips together in a kiss, fumbling around in his bag until he pulled the Invisibility Cloak from it. He pulled away for a moment, grabbing the shimmering fabric and draping it over the two of them, before he grabbed his boyfriend’s cheeks and pulled him into another kiss.

And Harry had never been happier to do away with a plan, even if it was just for a little while.

—

“Hermione! There you are!!” Neville called, rushing over to the bushy haired girl, a bright smile on his face. The sudden loud noise startled Hermione, and Crookshanks, who was happily curled up in her lap, and let out a loud meow at the sudden interruption.

“Oh, hi, Neville… What’s up?” She asked, closing her book and setting it on the table, looking at the blonde boy in confusion.

“I’ve been running around the castle all morning trying to find you!”

“Uh… Why?”

“Because, I wanted to ask if you wanted to come hang out with me today?”

Hermione paused, studying him in confusion, before a frown formed on her face as she remembered what day it was.

“Nev… I really don’t appreciate you asking me out as a joke…”

As she spoke, however, Neville’s face twisted up into a look of shock and horror, and he quickly shook his head, holding his hands up like he was surrendering.

“Nonono, that’s not what I meant!” He quickly reassured her. “I think you’re brilliant, but, ah… I’m not interested in you that way? You’re brilliant, and beautiful, and a great friend, but… You’re just that, a great friend, and I don’t really do Valentine’s stuff, and… Ah…”

His face turned beet red as he looked away, a soft groan escaping him.

“I sound like an idiot right now, don’t I..?”

Hermione giggled, covering her mouth as she looked up at her friend.

“No, no, it’s sweet. I just… I also don’t do anything for Valentine’s.” She said with a smile. “It’s not a very big thing for my family and I. My Dad will bring Mum and I each a bouquet of flowers, but… The whole idea of only a day being dedicated to love just seems silly to me.”

“That’s fair.” Neville nodded, sitting down on the bench next to her. “And, uh… Can I just be honest here for a second?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I wanted to come and check on you. I know that Weasley and Finnegan still haven’t… Stopped being bastards, and I was worried.”

Hermione’s expression softened a bit when he spoke, resting a hand on her chest as Crookshanks began to purr, stretching out and making his way over into Neville’s lap, letting the boy pet him gently.

“Oh, Neville… That’s really sweet of you…” She said quietly.

“I know it seems kinda silly, but… You’re my friend, and…”

She shook her head, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug, letting him wrap an arm around her waist and squeeze back.

“It’s not silly at all. You’re a sweetheart.”

Neville sucked in a sharp breath, tucking his face into her shoulder as his cheeks turned a brilliant scarlet.

“I don’t think I’m that sweet, I’m just… Trying to be a good friend.” He murmured.

“We’ll you’re doing an amazing job at that.” Hermione giggled, pulling away and gently grabbing Crookshanks from her friend’s lap, looking up at him again. “So… Were you going to invite me to go and do something?”

“Huh? Oh- Yes!” His eyes widened, and he slapped his forehead with a laugh. “Professor Sprout got a few Wiggentree saplings last night, and I was hoping you would come help me get them planted? Hagrid found a family of Bowtruckles in the Forbidden Forest, living off a dying one, and he wanted to transplant them into a few lively Wiggentrees.”

“...I’ve never heard of a Wiggentree. Or a Bowtruckle for that matter. What are they?”

“Come with me, and I’ll tell you about Wiggentrees! You’ll have to ask Daph about Bowtruckles, though. She’s like a creature catalog.” Neville laughed a bit, standing up and holding his hand out to her. Hermione smiled, grabbing his hand and hoisting herself up to her feet, pulling Crookshanks up onto her shoulders like a cowl as she did so.

“I’ll have to go talk to her when I see her, then.” She smiled, scratching her cat under the chin as she followed Neville out of the courtyard and down to the Greenhouses, listening as he began to explain the properties of a Wiggentree.

“So, the main use for a Wiggentree is a Bowtruckle habitat, and the bark makes a Wiggenweld potion, which is a really, really powerful healing potion. But, did you know that Wiggentrees actually are able to protect you from Dark Creatures? The magical aura about them acts like a shield, able to keep their dark magic from touching you as long as you’re making contact with the tree…”

—

Draco did not like getting dirty. He did not like it at all, and the only thing he hated more than getting dirty was getting cold and wet.

However, at that moment, he was cold, wet, and dirty up to his knees as he waded through the Black Lake with Luna and Astoria, the two younger girls attempting to find Bluewheel Snails in the shallows.

And why was he hunting for a mysterious, magical snail in the freezing lake with one of his best friends, and another best friend’s little sister?

Because his copy of Moste Potente Potions had mentioned that Bluewheel Snail mucus is a key ingredient in something known as the Existimulio Draught, which was supposed to increase a wix’s spellcasting strength for a brief period of time.

And, unfortunately, he enjoyed brewing mysterious and rare potions.

So? Snails.

“Have you found anything?” Draco asked, looking over at the girls as Luna helped Astoria hitch her skirt up again, as it had begun dragging through the top of the water.

“Not any snails, but I did find this crab.” She replied helpfully, grabbing a large, fuzzy, silver crab from her pocket and holding it out to him. The little beast snapped its claws at him, and Astoria gently flicked it, making it snap a few more times before Luna tucked it back into her pocket.

“...Why was it furry?”

“I have no idea. I’m going to give it to Hagrid. I think he’d like it.”

“It’ll be a nice Valentine’s Day present for him, I think.” Astoria smiled, dunking her hands into the water again and pulling out another rock, tossing it further into the lake. “...Are you sure your book said that the snails are in the Black Lake..?”

“Yep.” Draco nodded, a sigh escaping him. “But that book was written a long time ago, so… This might be fruitless… Or, well… Snailless.”

“Can I go back up to the castle then? I liked helping you, but… I’m cold.”

Luna nodded. “Of course, Tori. Go get warm. I’ll stay to help.”

Astoria sighed gratefully, bidding them both farewell before she booked it out of the lake and back up to the castle, pulling her shoes on as she did so. Draco hummed a bit, wading his way over to Luna.

“Sorry I dragged you out here.” He said quietly. “I… Honestly? I should have used a bit more logic when I read the book. I forgot that so many of the ingredients in the recipes are probably extinct at this point.”

“Oh, it’s no problem.” She shook her head. “I like helping. And it’s always fun to look for strange creatures.”

“Still… It’s colder than hell out of here.”

“Isn’t any temperature that’s not actively on fire colder than hell?”

“Technically, yes, but that’s being cheeky.” Draco said, shooting a mock glare at his friend. Luna grinned, reaching down into the water and jolting.

“Oh!” She gasped, pulling out a large bundle of seaweed. “How pretty!”

And, Draco had to admit, the seaweed was pretty.

The magic in the lake made things sometimes have an odd color to them, and the bundle of water plants was proof of that. Instead of the typical dark green coloration that most seaweed had, this one was different shades of blue and black.

It was honestly kinda weird to look at. Pretty, but weird.

“What the hell..?” He asked quietly, leaning down to get a closer look at the bundle of seaweed, before his eyes caught a flash of a bright blue. “Wait! Don’t move!”

She froze in place, letting him shove his hands into the bundle, wincing a bit at the feeling of mucus that covered his fingers as he pulled out what could only be described as an undulating ball of little blue snails.

“...Ew.” She muttered, staring at the horrific mass that Draco cupped in his hands. “Are those..?”

“...Bluewheel Snails.” He whispered. “...Dozens of them…”

Luna nodded slowly, holding the seaweed clump with one hand as she grabbed her wand, conjuring a large glass jar to put the clump, and the snail ball, in.

Once their snails were contained, Draco quickly washed his hands off in the lake before staggering out, letting her cast a drying and a warming charm over him before he put his socks and shoes back on. He grinned up at her, running a hand through his hair as he jumped back up to his feet, letting her hand him the jar.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Draco.” She laughed a bit.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Lue.” He snickered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and tucking the jar under his free arm, the two of them making their way back up towards the castle, waving at Neville and Hermione as they made their way down.

“What is in that jar?!” The latter called over to them, cupping her hands around her mouth to make sure her voice carried.

“Bluewheel Snails!” Draco called right back. “For a potion!”

“Good luck! We’re replanting Wiggentrees!”

“Sounds like fun! Make sure you wear gloves!”

“And don’t burn yourself while brewing your potion!” Hermione laughed a bit, before disappearing into the greenhouses with Neville, who was smiling the entire time the two of them spoke.

And god, they all really needed a happy, peaceful day like this.

—

Sometimes, Lucius just needed to watch Narcissa.

It was a habit he’d gotten into when they were smitten teenagers, that every chance he had, he would just sit and… Well, watch her. It didn’t matter what she was doing, he would just let his gaze settle on her face, and wouldn’t look away.

He watched her read, he watched her laugh, he watched her smile.

And, as creepy as it may sound, his favorite time to watch her?

Was when she was dozing off in bed next to him. Not quite awake, but not quite asleep either, drifting in between the two states with a serene smile on her face, her chest slowly rising and falling as her hair spread out around her head like a halo.

And that was exactly what he was doing, watching as she dozed after they had finished their Valentine’s Day celebrations, their still bare bodies just barely covered by a sheet as he rested his head on his arms.

Narcissa let out a soft hum as he shuffled, shaking the bed just a little and causing her to open her eyes and smile at him.

“...Hi…” She whispered, and he reached out, gently brushing her cheek with his thumb.

“Hello, my love…” He murmured, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Can I do anything for you..?”

“Mm… No… I think I’m just going to relax here for a while…”

“I’ll stay with you, then.”

She sighed happily, scooting closer to him and nuzzling into his chest, letting him wrap his arms around her.

Lucius smiled a bit, a content sigh escaping him as he relaxed into the bed once again, his fingers running through her hair as he let his eyes fall closed.

Just as he was settling in, his mind starting to drift off as the comfort of his wife’s body pressed against his lured him to sleep, there was the all too familiar sound of the floo from downstairs.

And then, before he could process what he’d heard, the door to their bedroom flew open, and Juliana’s voice carried through.

“Narcissa? Lucius? I am finished with all of my meetings for the day, and I have brought a bottle of rather expensive wine I was given as a- MERDA-!”

For about five seconds, all three of them were frozen, staring at one another with wide, horrified expressions.

Then, Juliana slapped her hands over her eyes and whipped around, rushing down the hallway.

“I SAW NOTHING!”

That managed to snap them out of their stupor, and Lucius quickly launched himself up out of bed and slammed the door shut, his shoulders shaking with disbelieving laughter as Narcissa flew up as well, grabbing her dressing gown from the hook and quickly pulling it on.

The two of them stared at each other, their faces matching shades of scarlet as she made her way over to him, handing him his own dressing gown and a pair of pajama pants, which he quickly pulled on.

Once they double checked that they were decent enough, they crept back out of their room and down into the parlor, where they found Juliana sitting in one of the chairs, her head in her hands, with three glasses of wine poured out.

“...Remind me to never floo into your home without calling first ever again.” She said quietly, lifting her head without turning to look at them. “I am, so very sorry.”

“...Well. At least we can get drunk and forget what just happened.” Lucius sighed, looking longingly at the glasses of wine. “Because I, for one, would like to forget that.”

“Hear hear.” Juliana replied, grabbing one of the glasses and downing it, pouring herself another one as the two of them made their way over, sitting on the sofa across from their friend and toasting their glasses, sipping at the wine.

They sat in a mildly uncomfortable silence, nursing their drinks and refusing to make eye contact, until Lucius finally found something to say.

“...Well. I feel like we’ve reached a new stage in our friendship with you, Juliana. And I’m not sure any of us are happy about it.”

There was a brief pause as his words settled over everyone, before they all burst into laughter at the sheer absurdity of what had just happened.

And it was certainly a strange step forward in their friendship.

Chapter Text

“Harry, you’re sure you’re up for this match?” Flint asked him for what felt like the thousandth time that morning as they got ready in the locker rooms. “I know you’ve been practicing on your Firebolt and all but-”

“Marcus, mate. I adore you, and I respect you so much, but if you ask me that one more time I think I might kill you.” Harry groaned, rubbing his temples. “Yes. I’m up for the match. I want to win the Quidditch cup this year, and after the shitshow that was our first match of the season we need to have a good comeback.”

“Okay, but-”

Thankfully, Peregrine came to Harry’s rescue, resting his hand on Flint’s shoulder and squeezing it. “Let him think, man. He’s going up against Chang. Girl’s fast, and fuckin scary.”

“I’m not scared of Chang. I just don’t like her.”

“...I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t like Chang. What happened?”

“Her friend Marietta Edgecombe bullied Luna at the beginning of the year.” Draco explained. “Harry doesn’t like Chang by association, because she could have done something to stop the bullying.”

“Edgecombe… Is that the girl who ended up with pink hair?” Lucian Bole asked, looking over at them.

“That she is. That was my doing, by the way.”

“Huh, brill.”

Harry huffed a small laugh, running a hand through his hair as he grabbed his Firebolt. “Okay… I’m ready. Just gotta get the Snitch when we’re at least… What was it again?”

“Fifty ahead.” Blaise chimed in, walking over and gently grabbing the back of his friend’s head, bumping their foreheads together. “And remember. If shit starts going sideways?”

“Land.”

“Good boy.”

They snickered at each other, straightening out their uniforms and waiting for Madam Hooch to summon them out onto the field. The closer they got to the match beginning, the more anxiety Flint seemed to have.

“We can do this, everyone.” He said, bouncing on the balls of his feet, worrying at his lip. “If we lose this match, we’re out of the running, but… Ah… Just, fly the way you have been all week, yeah? It was all really, really good, and I would rather not go out of the running for my last year.”

“Well, duh. We can’t let Wood win the cup.” Draco huffed. “The guy’s a bitch.”

Before anyone could say anything more, the Hooch’s whistle went off, and they made their way out onto the pitch to tumultuous applause.

The Ravenclaw team, dressed in blue, were already standing in the middle of the field. Their Seeker, Cho Chang, was the only girl on their team. She was shorter than Harry by about a head, and she gave him a bright smile as the two captains faced each other.

He didn’t mean to do it, and normally, he had much better control over his facial expressions, but he almost definitely sneered at her on impulse, simply because he didn’t want her to look at him.

"Flint, Davies, shake hands." Madam Hooch said briskly, and Flint shook hands with the Ravenclaw Captain. "Mount your brooms on my whistle! Three! Two! One!"

When the whistle went off, he flinched for a moment, before he kicked off with his Firebolt, zipping into the air as he began to soar around the stadium.

He made his way over to the Slytherin stands, flashing a smile at Theo and the rest of his friends, who beckoned him to come closer. When he did, mostly out of curiosity, his boyfriend leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips, making his face turn a vibrant shade of red, and a startled laugh escaped him as he pulled away.

“And with that admittedly adorable public display of affection from the Slytherin Seeker, Harry Hartford, we’re off!” The game’s announcer, a Gryffindor named Lee Jordan, said as Harry zipped back out onto the field, going up above the rest of the players as he let his magic reach out, trying to track down the Snitch. “Speaking of Hartford, that broom he’s on is one of the biggest excitements of the match! For those of you who were just dragged here by your Quidditch loving friends, that’s a Firebolt!”

“According to Which Broomstick, the Firebolt is going to be the broom of choice for the national teams at this year's World Championship-"

“Mr. Jordan, would you mind telling us what's going on in the match?" Lupin, who had taken over Lee Jordan Babysitting Duties from McGonagall upon being made the head of Gryffindor, said softly.

"Right you are, Professor- Just giving a bit of background information- The Firebolt, incidentally, has a built-in auto-brake and-"

"Mr. Jordan.”

"Oop, sorry- Slytherin in possession, Marcus Flint heading for the goal-!”

Harry streaked past Flint in the opposite direction, gazing around for a glint of gold and noticing that Chang was tailing him closely. She was undoubtedly a very good flier, as she kept cutting across him, forcing him to change direction.

Instead of continuing with his normal pattern, he decided it was time for a feint.

So, turning on a dime, he dove straight towards the ground like he had spotted the Snitch, and just like he’d been hoping for, Chang dove down after him.

Distantly, he could hear cheers erupting from the Slytherin section of the stands, letting him know that a goal had been made, but he didn’t have the time to worry about that.

No.

He just needed to get as close to the ground as possible.

Then-

With a rush of air, he yanked the front of his Firebolt up, launching him straight back up so quickly it knocked the breath from his lungs.

And, there was a solid crashing sound as Chang slammed into the ground at full speed.

It took a moment for him to find his balance again, especially since he had lost all of his air on the uphill, but when he did, he saw the Ravenclaw Seeker scrambling to get back up on her broom, one of the Chasers on her team diving down to perform what looked to be a couple of healing spells on her.

Pucey shot him a thumbs up as he knocked a Ravenclaw quaffle away from the goalposts, and Harry couldn’t stop the excited laugh from escaping him.

Then, an all too familiar zing shot up his spine, and before he could really stop and think about what he was about to do, he flipped upside down and went after the Snitch, hooking his ankles together to keep himself from falling off his broom.

“-AN UNPRECEDENTED MANEUVER FROM HARTFORD-! IS HE FLYING UPSIDE DOWN?!” Jordan shouted into the speakers. “HOLY SHIT HE IS-!”

“MR. JORDAN?!” Lupin’s appalled voice echoed in the speakers at his student’s language.

Harry grinned, throwing his weight to the side as he felt the Snitch dive down, starting to spin as he followed after it.

Just before he crashed into the ground, he leveled out with it, snatching the little golden ball out of the air and skidding to a halt as he dug his boots into the ground, ripping up chunks of the grass as he did so. He lifted the Snitch into the air with a shout of delight, and before he could say anything, a large body wiped him straight out, wrapping their arms around him and spinning him around so quickly he thought he was going to puke.

“That’s my boy!!” Flint shouted, erupting in a fit of laughter as he carefully set Harry down, shaking his shoulders with a brilliant grin on his face.

“We made it to the finals!” Draco cried, pumping his fists in the air as he landed next to them, Blaise right behind him. As soon as Flint had released Harry, his friends had a hold of him, and Blaise pressed a kiss right up on the side of his head.

“You’re fucking mental, and I hate you so much.” He laughed. “I thought my heart was going to fall out of my arse when I saw you spinning around like a fucking top.”

“What can I say? I was feeling dramatic.” Harry grinned, squeezing the Snitch in his hand as he hugged his teammates, looking up at the stands. From where he was standing, he could see Snape with an uncharacteristic grin on his face, which somehow made the win feel that much sweeter.

—

The smell of incense in Trelawney’s classroom was giving Harry yet another headache, something that he really, desperately wished had been left behind last year, when that weird, evil Voldemort Diary had been destroyed by Theo’s Fiendfyre.

Because he was really, really tired of being taken out by these damn things.

He sighed a bit, resting his head on the table as he settled down onto one of the poufs at his, Daphne, and Neville’s table, the two of them exchanging a worried glance over his head as he did so, before eyeing the mist filled balls that rested on each of the tables.

“I, er… I thought we weren’t starting crystal balls until next term.” Daph said with a slight chuckle, like she was trying to make light of the situation.

"Don't complain, this means we've finished palmistry…" Harry muttered back. "I was getting sick of her flinching every time she looked at my hands."

“If it makes you feel any better, she flinched whenever she looked at mine too.”

“That does not make me feel better, because you’re my dear friend, but thank you for trying…”

"Good day to you!" Cried the familiar, misty voice, and Trelawney made her usual dramatic entrance out of the shadows. Neville, of course, jumped at the sudden sound, and Harry instinctively reached out and grabbed his friend’s thigh, squeezing it a bit to reassure him as he shot a migraine induced glare at their professor.

"I have decided to introduce the crystal ball a little earlier than I had planned." Trelawney crooned, sitting with her back to the fire and gazing around. "The fates have informed me that your examination in June will concern the Orb, and I am anxious to give you sufficient practice."

A few feet away, Hermione snorted.

"Well, honestly... 'the fates have informed her' who sets the exam? She does! What an amazing prediction!" She huffed, not troubling to keep her voice low.

Daphne had to bite back a giggle at that, slapping a hand over her mouth to not alert Trelawney to the comment.

It was hard to tell whether the woman had heard them as her face was hidden in shadow. She continued, however, as though she had not.

"Crystal gazing is a particularly refined art." She said dreamily. "I do not expect any of you to See when first you peer into the Orb's infinite depths. We shall start by practicing relaxing the conscious mind and external eyes, so as to clear the Inner Eye and the superconscious. Perhaps, if we are lucky, some of you will see before the end of the class."

And so they began to stare at the softly glowing, migraine inducing orbs.

Harry, at least, felt extremely foolish, staring blankly at the crystal ball, trying to keep his mind empty when thoughts such as ‘this is stupid’ kept drifting across it.

After almost fifteen minutes of silence, Neville sighed, looking over at them.

“Seeing anything interesting?” He asked.

“Someone spilt a candle over here…” Daphne hummed, her nail digging into a hole that was burned into the wooden table.

“I see a nap in my future.” Harry added with a tired grin. “Because my brain is going to explode, I think.”

“Ooh, sounds lovely.”

All three of them went rigid, however, when Trelawney hustled past, rushing over to the back corner where the two Gryffindor girls who were really, really into Divination were sitting.

"Would anyone like me to help them interpret the shadowy portents within their Orb?" She murmured over the clinking of her bangles, turning around wildly, like a praying mantis on the hunt for its next kill.

No one spoke up.

Unfortunately, she made her way over to their table, and it took every ounce of strength in his body for Harry not to audibly groan.

He knew what was coming.

"There is something here!" Trelawney whispered, lowering her face to the ball, so that it was reflected twice in her huge glasses. "Something moving... but what is it?"

Harry was prepared to bet everything he owned, Including his Firebolt, that it wasn't good news, whatever it was.

And, sure enough…

"My dear…” Trelawney breathed, gazing up at Harry like she was about to watch him drop dead. "It is here, plainer than ever before... My dear, stalking toward you, growing ever closer... The Gr-"

"Oh, for goodness' sake!" Hermione barked. "Not that ridiculous Grim again!"

Trelawney raised her enormous eyes to Hermione's face, surveying her with an expression of unmistakable anger.

"I am sorry to say that from the moment you have arrived in this class my dear, it has been apparent that you do not have what the noble art of Divination requires. Indeed, I don't remember ever meeting a student whose mind was so hopelessly mundane and rigid."

There was a moment's silence.

Harry could hear his pulse rushing in his ears, anger starting to bubble in his chest.

"Fine!" Hermione snapped, getting up and cramming Unfogging the Future back into her bag as tears welled up in her eyes. "Fine!"

And to the whole class's amazement, Hermione strode over to the trapdoor, kicked it open, and climbed down the ladder out of sight.

It took a few minutes for the class to settle down again. Professor Trelawney seemed to have forgotten all about the Grim, and was simply tutting over Hermione’s mind not being clear enough, and how such a dense girl would be unable to grasp the more intricate parts of something as powerful as Divination.

Then, a crystal ball went flying at her head, narrowly missing and shattering against the wall next to her, silencing the class better than anything else had.

Neville and Daphne had both launched themselves backwards, their eyes wide as they looked between Harry and the exploded glass.

He was up on his feet again, his hands twitching as he grit his teeth, staring at Trelawney with an expression that could only be described as hateful.

And, to everyone’s horror, his eyes had a soft green glow to them, a matching glow flaring on the Slytherin ring, making his right index finger light up.

“...She wouldn’t be struggling as much as she is if it wasn’t for your foul fucking teaching, you wretched woman.” Harry hissed, his voice sounding unnatural as it spit from his tongue. “You are a bloody farce, an unqualified seer, and a drunk. You burn so much incense to hide the scent of sherry on your breath, and you spend so much time predicting nothing but misfortune that you’ve frightened every single student in this room more than once.”

“Here’s a fucking prediction for you. You’ll be out of here by the end of the fucking week.”

Without another word to his professor, he shoved his supplies back into his bag, murmuring soft apologies to his friends as he hustled out after Hermione, the strange anger that possessed him fading away the further he got from the Divination Tower.

It only took him a few more minutes to find Hermione, her magic flaring with despair as she hid herself away in one of the girl’s bathrooms, and after a moment of hesitation, he carefully pushed the door open a crack.

“...Hey, Hermione?” He said softly.

“Hi, Harry…” She sniffled, wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry, I… Wait, what are you doing here..?”

“I may or may not have just insulted the fuck out of Trelawney for being rude to you.”

A startled laugh escaped her, and she looked over at him. “Why did you..?”

Harry shrugged, pushing the door open the rest of the way and making his way into the bathroom, grabbing his wand to conjure a cup and filling it with water for her. She accepted it gratefully, wiping her eyes again as she sipped the drink.

“...She insulted you after you left. I just… My brain kinda shut down, and… Yeah.” He muttered, running a hand through his hair. “I think I’m dropping Divination. I can’t stand that woman.”

Hermione chuckled weakly, nodding. “She’s awful… I thought that Divination would be fun, but… But it’s so…”

“It’s because we have a shit teacher, is why.”

“I… Probably…”

They sat in silence for a minute, with her quickly washing her face to get rid of any evidence of her tears, before Harry spoke up again.

“...Wanna come and see Nestor?” He asked quietly. “He has a way of making everyone feel better…”

Hermione giggled a bit, looking over at him. “...Yeah, I would like to see Nestor…”

“C’mon. I’ll lead you down there.”

—

“He’s so big now!” Hermione gasped, her eyes almost bulging out of her head as she looked up at Nestor. She was, in fact, completely correct.

Now that the unicorn was nearly two years old, his golden foal coat had almost fully shifted into a brilliant silver, with only a few twinges and patches of the soft golden fluff left behind.

And, most impressively, he was nearly fully grown, at fourteen hands high.

Upon seeing the two students, Nestor whinnied excitedly, his tail flicking wildly as he sprinted around his paddock, before stopping when Harry climbed up onto the fence to look him in the eyes.

“Hi, pretty boy…” He chuckled a bit, reaching out and gently scrubbing the unicorn’s neck, starting to laugh when he began to aggressively shove his face into his neck. “Yes, yes, I missed you too! Hermione, get up here!”

He reached a hand out to help her up onto the fence, keeping her balanced as she, too, began to scrub the unicorn’s neck.

“Aw… I always forget he’s down here…” Hermione said softly, closing her eyes as Nestor gently pressed his forehead against hers, like he could sense her distress and was trying to comfort her. “He’s such a sweetheart.”

“Isn’t he? I think it’s because of how often Daph comes down here and just, loves on him.”

“How often does she..?”

“Oh, every night. She snuck out after curfew every night last week to come and check on him because he ate some clover, and it made him sick.”

“Poor baby!” She gasped, looking back at Nestor. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better!”

Harry chuckled a bit, adjusting his position so one leg was folded under him, balancing him on the fence. He tilted his head, watching as Hermione softly cooed at the unicorn, running her fingers through his mane as he nibbled at her robes.

It was a rare moment of peace for the both of them, especially with all of their time traveling for their classes, and he just… Relished in it.

Especially since he knew that he was absolutely going to get a month’s worth of detention for insulting Trelawney the way he did, but there was not a single regretful bone in his fucking body.

He sighed happily, bringing his hand up to hold onto his parent’s rings, a small smile pulling at his lips as he felt them pulse in his grip, and, for the briefest of moments, he knew that Fiona and Gid approved of what he had done too.

That relief was short lived, however, as the sudden shouting of Professor McGonagall made both of their heads snap up.

“MR. HARTFORD! MISS GRANGER! COME HERE AND EXPLAIN YOURSELVES IMMEDIATELY!” She called, marching her way down the hill as quickly as she could.

The two of them made eye contact, and before Hermione could protest what he was about to do, he grabbed her hand and yanked her off the fence, dragging her with him as he took off towards the Quidditch pitch, laughing all the while.

It took her a minute to lighten up, but as the two of them ran, the sound of McGonagall’s angry shouting fading away behind them, she began to laugh as well, mostly at the absurdity of the situation.

“We’re so screwed, Harry!”

“Not if she doesn’t catch us!” He cackled, yanking her into the doorway of the pitch and pulling his Time Turner out of his shirt, looping the chain around her neck as well and grinning. “How about an hour?”

“Sounds perfect.” Hermione nodded, grabbing the charm and twisting it once, the all too familiar swirling sensation of traveling back in time making them stumble, before everything righted itself again.

Once it did, they looked at each other, removed the chain from her neck, and tucked it back into his shirt before they headed back up towards the castle.

They had a class to drop out of, anyways.

Chapter Text

If Harry wasn’t one of Neville’s best friends in the entire world, he would be completely fucking terrified of him.

He had never seen someone have that much control over their magic before, and the way he seemed to do things without even realizing it made him just that much more terrifying at times, because it didn’t seem like he’d hucked that crystal ball on purpose. It was just an instinctive, magical reaction to the blatant disrespect of someone Harry loved like family, and it was incredible.

Daphne was leading him back down the ladder, her eyes wide as she looked over at him before grabbing his hand and pulling him away from it.

“Do you think Harry was trying to actually hurt her?” She asked quietly, looking up at Neville with worried eyes.

“...No, I don’t.” He shook his head. “I think his magic just… Reacted.”

“Still, that could have been bad…”

“But it wasn’t.”

“I-... I mean, you’re not wrong.” Daphne chuckled, a sigh escaping her as she closed her eyes. “I just worry. He’s being all… Volatile and impulsive right now. What do you think is up with him?”

Neville paused for a moment, tilting his head back and forth as he thought about what could actually be going on.

There was the fact that Sirius Black, a man who was arrested and imprisoned for ‘betraying’ him and his biological parents was actually innocent.

Or the fact that he nearly died earlier in the year.

Or the stress of realizing just how bad Theo’s father was.

And about a dozen other things that he knew were constantly weighing on his friend’s shoulders, no matter how much effort they put in to helping him deal with that stress, because the world just liked to pile shit onto him.

“...Probably a combination of like a thousand different things?” Nev offered, raising a brow. “It’s Harry. He probably has stuff going on in his mind that we can’t even begin to comprehend…”

“Ah, yeah.” Daphne nodded again. “That tracks. And he won’t tell us about it until the last possible moment.”

“Yep.”

The two of them shared a sigh, continuing their way down the corridor, starting to head down to the Great Hall for lunch, when something bright orange caught their eye.

It was Crookshanks!

“Oh! Here, kitty kitty kitty…” Nevile cooed softly, dropping down to his knees and clicking his tongue a few times, holding his hands out. “What are you doing up here? Lookin for your mum?”

The cat, however, ignored him entirely, continuing to scratch at a suit of armor, growling and hissing with a level of anger that felt entirely uncharacteristic for the cat. Daphne frowned, crouching down to his height as well as they crept over to the suit of armor, coming up behind Crookshanks to try and figure out what he was hunting.

It took a moment, but when his eyes caught sight of a strange, worm-looking thing wiggling underneath the shoe of the armor, he sucked in a sharp breath, lifting it up and snatching the emaciated looking creature up into his hands.

It squeaked in horror, wiggling violently as it tried to escape his grip, but his friend quickly drew her wand and stunned it, making it fall limp in his hands.

Crookshanks yowled at them, his tone furious as he hissed at the rat.

“...You really hate this guy, huh?” Neville asked quietly as he studied the creature. Now that it was asleep, he could actually take a good look at it, and as he double checked it for any injuries, his eyes fell upon a strange sight.

This rat had a missing digit.

It had a very specific missing digit.

And it looked like the injury was old, as there was no blood, and it was an oddly clean job. One that seemed like it had been done purposefully, but quickly at the same time.

Oh, shit.

He slowly turned to look at Daphne, all the blood draining from his face as he opened his mouth to speak.

“...Could you conjure a container for me? Something this guy won’t be able to escape from?”

“Uh… Sure?” She replied with a frown, conjuring what looked to be a latching metal lunchbox like Neville had seen muggle kids using before, although this one had some holes poked into it to allow air to flow through it, flicking it open and letting him place Scabbers the rat inside, before latching it shut again.

After a moment, he fumbled a piece of parchment out of his bag, grabbed one of the muggle sharpie pens that Harry had given him earlier in the year, and scribbled something down on it before securing it to the box with a sticking charm and pulling it into his arms.

Rat. Do Not Open!!!!!

“Nev… Is this..?” Daphne asked quietly, biting her lip.

“Peter Pettigrew? Pretty sure, but… Let’s go find Blaise. He has The Map right now, right?” Neville said, looking over at her.

“He does.”

“Then let’s go. Once we know for sure, then we can tell Harry.”

“Okay.”

He carefully helped Daphne to her feet, letting her lead the way to the Great Hall, looking around worriedly until they spotted their friends at the Slytherin table, rushing over to them and slamming the box onto the table. The loud sound startled Theo, who instinctively karate chopped Neville in the arm, causing the other boy to wince.

“Sorry-!” Theo hissed, quickly grabbing his friend’s arm and rubbing where he has struck as an apology, looking at the tin in confusion. “What is that?”

“It’s a rat holder.” Daphne nodded, looking at Blaise. “Blaise, can we see the map?”

“Uh… Sure?” The boy nodded, grabbing the parchment from his bag and handing it to her, letting her activate the map and unfold it, her eyes scanning the vast castle until they locked onto the Great Hall.

And, their table.

“...There he is.”

Neville leaned over, letting out a shuddering breath as he found their group at the table.

Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy, Daphne Greengrass, and Neville Longbottom were all huddled around the Slytherin table.

And, resting in the very center of the table, locked in a tin lunchbox in his rat form?

Was Peter Fucking Pettigrew.

—

“So this is the rat?” Harry asked as he stared at the tin box on his bed, which his friends had shown him after he managed to weasel his way out of a month-long detention train after sending himself and Hermione back in time after their… Mishap, in Divination. “Or, well… The rat’s in here?”

“Yep.” Blaise groaned, rubbing his face. “Marauder’s Map, and Luna confirmed. The only thing is that we don’t know how to get him to turn back into himself, and, well… We’re trying to find it. Draco’s on research duty, and if he can’t find the right spell here, he’s going to write to his parents.”

He nodded a bit, sitting down on the bed and picking up the tin.

“Does he have food and water in here?”

“Yep. It constantly replenishes after he eats and drinks enough of it.”

“And he has plenty of air?”

“Plenty.”

“Good. I don’t want him to die before I can question him.”

Theo sighed affectionately, making his way over to his boyfriend and gently shoving his shoulder. “No murdering yet. You know that.”

Harry let out a soft grumble, but handed him the lunchbox, letting him set it on his desk before settling back down onto the bed with him.

“Any luck, Dray?” Neville asked softly, leaning over to look at their friend, who was sitting on the floor with a bunch of books spread open around him. Most of them were Transfiguration books, as Animagi were a form of self transfiguration, but, from the look on the blonde haired boy’s face, he wasn’t finding any answers.

“No, and this is every transfiguration book I could find. We don’t even have any books on Animagi in the library!” Draco huffed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. “There’s a section for it, but there isn’t a single book in there that discusses them beyond what they are, and how to identify one! And it could take mum and dad weeks to search the library!”

“Should we maybe ask Professor Volkov? He seems safe.”

Luna spoke up then. “Professor Volkov doesn’t have any books on Animagi, and he hasn’t encountered enough of them to know a spell to force one to transform.”

“Damn.” Theo huffed. “McGonagall?”

“Headmistress. We can’t trust her with something like this.”

“Lupin?”

Harry shook his head then, guiding Theo’s down into his lap so he could run his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair.

“No. Lupin knew Pettigrew. They were childhood friends. I-... I really can’t imagine being able to get anything useful out of him when it comes to something like this. It’s too personal. It is for Snape, too. I mean, you’ve seen the way he glares at Lupin…”

Blaise, who had been sitting silently as they discussed possible professors to confide in, sighed and shook his head.

“We’ll just have to do this the hard way.” He said simply. “We’ll get Pettigrew to transform back, and we’ll get the full story out of him. One way or another.”

They all shared a grimace, but nodded.

It was going to be a long, and ridiculously difficult process, but… They still had four months until the end of the school year.

That had to be plenty of time.

…Right?

—

There, in fact, was not plenty of time.

Despite their weeks of research, assistance from the Malfoys, Mrs. Zabini, and even Neville’s Gran, they hadn’t found any spells or rituals that could force Pettigrew out of his rat form.

They had briefly discussed Harry just trying to brute force his way through the transformation, but Blaise had reminded them that turning a rat into a human was a lot harder than turning a piece of parchment into a teacup, and the possibility of either crippling or killing Pettigrew in the process was really, incredibly high.

Which, wouldn’t do. Not one bit.

So, Pettigrew lived on the desk in their dorm, locked in his sad little tin box like a weird little prisoner.

But, time passed, and it passed faster than anyone expected.

Winter turned to spring, causing the snow that remained on the ground to melt, and the Easter Holidays came and went, still with no further luck.

But, they couldn’t dwell.

They had far too much to worry about.

Even with dropping Divination, Harry and Hermione were still buried in homework due to all the classes they were taking, both of them losing sleep and hiding out in their hidden alcove in order to get extra studying done. Most nights, especially nights that Harry had Quidditch practice, he wouldn’t even make it to his bed in the dorms, instead choosing to crawl into Theo’s while half asleep, nestling into his boyfriend’s arms without a second thought and letting himself drift off to sleep.

And, with both the Quidditch final, and their final exams coming up, that exhaustion was increasing tenfold.

The whole school was abuzz with discussion of the final, as it was the long awaited match between Gryffindor and Slytherin that they had missed out on at the beginning of the year. The new Gryffindor Seeker, Dean Thomas, one of the boys in their year, was an excellent addition to the team, and even Harry had to respect the dedication he had to getting his team to the final.

So much so that, when the day finally came, he was legitimately nervous.

He, much like Flint did on every other match day, was pacing back and forth through the locker room, muttering about his strategies and how he would have to maneuver to get around Thomas, and if he would be able to properly juke the other boy, as he’d never actually flown against him before.

Despite the fact that he was ignoring them completely, he could feel his teammates watching his every movement, his constant, fast footsteps nearly wearing a path into the floor as he went back and forth, back and forth.

His stomach flipped a few times as he heard the rest of the school filing into the stands above them, and he let out a low, monotone groan, crouching down and putting his head between his knees.

“I can’t do this. I’m gonna puke. I’m gonna get sick.” He said, looking up when he felt Draco kneel down in front of him, gently cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look up the rest of the way. With a soft chuckle, he realized that his friend was holding a Stomach Settling Potion. “...Or, maybe not.”

“I asked Uncle Sev to brew one for each of us last night.” Draco chuckled, handing it to him. “Because you and Blaise have been looking green about this since last week.”

Harry smiled, popping the cork out of the bottle and downing it without a second thought, standing up once his body stopped freaking out and grabbing his Firebolt.

Flint walked over to them, waving the rest of the team over.

“Okay, everyone.” He said softly, his own empty potion bottle in hand. “Today is… It’s the Quidditch Final, and it’s my last game as a Hogwarts student. And… And even if we don’t win, we’ve played a damn good game this year, even with our incident back in November, and I just want to say… Thank you all for being such a brilliant group. You’ve dealt with my bullshit all year, and… I really do appreciate it.”

Pucey smiled a bit, throwing his arm around Flint’s shoulder and gently knocking their heads together. “Mate, we’re gonna win this. You’re gonna go out on a high note, and we’re going to kick ass.”

“Exactly.” Peregrine nodded. “And, not to jinx us, but we haven’t had a Bludger incident so far.”

“Merlin, speaking of that. Babysit Harry, would you?” Blaise added. “I’d rather not deal with that again.”

“Always.”

Harry scoffed, shaking his head. “Is Peregrine just my designated babysitter when we play?”

“Yes, because your Quidditch track record is, basically, near death experience every fucking game.”

Before he could protest further, Flint lifted his head, going a bit pale.

“...It’s time.” He said quietly. “We can do this. One last go around.”

“One last go around, Captain.” Harry nodded, offering the older boy a smile as they followed him out onto the field.

They walked out onto the field to a tidal wave of noise. Three quarters of the crowd was wearing scarlet, waving scarlet and gold flags with the Gryffindor lion upon them, or brandishing banners with slogans like "GO GRYFFINDOR!" and "LIONS FOR THE CUP”.

The last quarter, which sat behind the Slytherin goalposts, was decked out completely in emerald. They all looked up at their house, and Harry visibly relaxed upon seeing his friends, all wearing their gear and waving banners bearing a shimmering silver snake.

Snape sat in the front row, matching the rest of his house in all green, and he gave his students an approving nod, a smile on his face. Flint nodded back, before he turned back towards the field, leading his team out to the center of the field.

Above the cheering, Lee Jordan could be heard once again, introducing the two teams.

“On Gryffindor, we have Thomas, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood! Widely regarded as the best team Gryffindor has had in years-” He called out, earning another wave of cheers that were punctuated with jeers from the Slytherins.

“And on Slytherin, we have Hartford, Flint, Malfoy, Zabini, Derrick, Bole, and Pucey! Flint’s team has made quite the comeback this year, and even if they are a bunch of slimy snakes, they’re a damn good team!”

“Mr. Jordan.” Lupin warned gently. “Keep the commentary on the game.”

“Sorry, sir!”

"Captains, shake hands!" Madam Hooch called, pulling both team’s attention back to the pitch.

Flint and Wood approached each other and grasped each other's hand very tightly; it looked as though each was trying to break the other's fingers.

Harry looked about for a moment, until he made eye contact with Dean Thomas, the other team’s Seeker. He offered the boy a smile, earning a nervous one in turn, and he stepped forward as well, holding his hand out to shake.

“May the best Seeker win, Thomas.” He said simply, watching as his eyes bulged out of his head for a moment, before he shook his hand.

“...May the best Seeker win, Hartford.” He chuckled. “Good luck.”

“You as well.”

They both stepped back to be with their teams again, and Madam Hooch looked at them approvingly.

“Mount your brooms! And behave yourselves, I want a good, clean game! In three, two, one!”

The sound of her whistle was lost in the roar from the crowd as fourteen brooms rose into the air. Harry and Thomas were up above the rest of the players, and they shared one more nod before flying to different parts of the field, observing the pitch and watching out for the Snitch as they listened to the commentary happening below them.

"And it's Gryffindor in possession, Alicia Spinnet of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Alicia! Argh, no! Quaffle intercepted by Zabini! Zabini of Slytherin tearing UP the field- WHAM! Nice Bludger work there by George Weasley! Zabini drops the Quaffle, it's caught by- Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina- nice swerve around Flint!”

Harry flinched a bit as the solid sound of a Bludger being struck hit his ears, and there was a mixture of horrified gasps and cheers when the impact hit.

“GRYFFINDOR IS UP TEN TO ZERO! EVEN WITH THAT HIT BY SLYTHERIN’S BOLE AT THE LAST SECOND! NICE SHOT ANGIE!”

“Damn.” He muttered, looking around more pointedly, wanting to spot the Snitch and get a head start.

The familiar, buzzing magic hadn’t started up yet, though, which meant that the little fucker was still in hiding.

There was another loud crashing sound from below him, and his eyes widened a bit when he saw that one of the Gryffindor Chasers, Johnson, had been knocked from her broom by Flint.

Apparently, they were being aggressive today.

"Sorry!" Flint called as the crowd below booed. "Sorry, I didn't see her!"

A moment later, Fred Weasley chucked his Beater's club at the back of Flint's head and his nose smashed into the handle of his broom with a sickening crack, beginning to gush blood.

"That will do!" Madam Hooch shrieked, zooming between them. "Penalty shot to Gryffindor for an unprovoked attack on their Chaser! Penalty shot to Slytherin for deliberate damage to their Chaser!"

"Come off it, Miss!" Fred howled, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle and Spinnet flew forward to take the penalty.

"Come on, Alicia!" Lee yelled into the silence that had descended on the crowd. "YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry turned the Firebolt sharply to watch Flint, still bleeding freely, fly forward to take the Slytherin penalty. Wood was hovering in front of the Gryffindor goal posts, his jaw clenched.

As Flint lined up to take the shot, he felt another body brush up against his, and he looked over to see Blaise, staring at the goalposts with a level of concentration he’d very rarely seen his friend have.

And then, as the Quaffle flew through the air, he watched his friend lift his hand up just a bit, and jerk it to the side while whispering.

“Confundus.”

His eyes lit up in delight as Wood’s broom jerked to the left, letting the Quaffle sail through and earning Slytherin ten points.

“Holy shit, Blaise!” He gasped, looking at his friend and throwing an arm around his shoulder. “You did it!”

His friend laughed, shaking out his wrist as everyone began to fly back into position.

“That was so much harder than I thought it was going to be… I feel exhausted after only doing one spell…”

“You get used to it. Now go! We have a game to win!”

Blaise grinned up at him, diving back down to rejoin the rest of their team.

Harry kept reaching out with his magic, waiting for the buzzing of the Snitch to envelop his senses as he listened to the violent sounding match below. People were colliding, Bludgers were striking people, and he was fairly certain he watched Peregrine whack Fred over the head with his own bat, leaving what looked to be a ridiculously painful lump.

There were more than a few penalty shots, with ending with them being tied at a fair fifty-fifty, and he was getting restless. Where was that bloody Snitch?

Another solid thunk, and an angry shout.

He turned his gaze back down to the game below him, only to see that George had sent a Bludger straight into Draco’s nose, breaking it and sending a spray of blood down the front of his clothes, and making him have to spit the blood out of his mouth.

It then caused a mid air fist fight, as Blaise shot over and kicked the twin in the face, enraging the other, and sending them all into a flurry of punches, slaps, and kicks that was nearly knocking them off of their brooms.

Lucian got involved, then, and started whacking everyone with his bat, yelling at them to stop.

This was getting bad.

Thomas flew over to him, his eyes wide and worried.

“This is a fucking mess.” He said softly. “Have you seen the Snitch at all?”

“No.” Harry shook his head, biting the inside of his cheek. He’d never seen this level of chaos in a game, and it was worrying him a bit.

“...Listen. I-... I became Seeker just so we could continue the season.” Thomas admitted softly. “I’d much prefer to be a Chaser, but… I don’t think I’m up for this. At all.”

“Trust me, I’m not either.”

“So, and don’t tell anyone I’m offering you this… I’ll throw the match. We need this to end before someone gets seriously injured.”

He paused, his eyes blowing wide as he turned to look at the Gryffindor.

“...Dude…”

“No, I’m serious.” Thomas shook his head, his expression grim. “That’s, what, three broken noses? Probably half a dozen concussions? This isn’t okay. No professional matches… They’re not like this at all. So, when the Snitch comes, you go and get it. Juke me into the ground, and… Get it.”

The two of them stared at each other, a solemn understanding between them.

It was getting out of control.

“Alright. Deal.” Harry said softly.

The other Seeker shot off again, and he began searching for the Snitch even harder, his heart pounding when the fluttering, buzzing magic suddenly twinged at the back of his mind, making him whip around and dive after it.

He could feel Thomas right behind him, but he knew that the other boy wasn’t going after the Snitch, not really.

With a silent apology, Harry pulled a hard left after the ball, sending him crashing into the stands before he shot after it once again.

Before he knew it, his hand had closed around the Snitch, and he was stopping so hard he nearly flew off his broom. He lifted the golden ball into the air, and the pitch erupted.

Boos from the Gryffindors, and, to his relief, the excited shouting of the Slytherins.

Emerald clad students came rushing the pitch as his teammates headed towards him, Flint wrapping him up in a tight hug as he held back tears of joy. Harry was quickly swamped by his housemates, trapped in a tight, suffocating hug that made him laugh so hard he could hardly breathe.

Once they let him go, mostly to let Flint go and collect the Quidditch Cup, Theo ran forward, throwing his arms around Harry’s neck and kissing him. He laughed between kisses, sliding his own arms around his boyfriend’s waist, picking him up a bit, and spinning him.

When they pulled away, they gently pressed their foreheads together, smiling up at each other.

“You did amazing, Harry.” Theo whispered. “I’m so proud of you.”

And the rush of happiness that went through him at those two simple sentences made Harry feel like he could cast a thousand Patronuses.

—

He kept himself tucked under his Invisibility Cloak as he waited outside the Gryffindor Locker Room, the rest of his house, and team, had all made their way back up to the castle to start celebrating their win.

Harry, however, had another goal in mind.

He waited until the door opened, and the dejected Gryffindor team began making their way out of the room and back up to the castle, keeping an eye out for Thomas. Once he spotted him, he grabbed the boy’s arm, startling him for a second.

Before he could say anything, however, he slapped a hand over his mouth, pulling the hood of the cloak off of his head for a moment so Thomas could see that it was him, and not some vengeful spirit of a Gryffindor Quidditch Player from the past.

“Sorry.” Harry whispered. “This will only take a second. I just… I wanted to thank you. What you did, it was… It was really, really noble, and… And you deserve this more than I do.”

He reached into his pocket, grabbing the Snitch that he’d taken when they were rushed off of the pitch, and tucked it into Thomas’ hands.

The other boy’s eyes widened as Harry pulled away from him, a smile on his face.

“You’re a damn good Seeker, Thomas. I’m happy to have played against you. Hope we can do this again next year.”

As he began to walk away, however, he heard Thomas speak up.

“...Dean. Call me Dean.” He said quietly, barely above a whisper. “And you bet your ass we’re doing this again next year.”

“...Call me Harry, then. And I look forward to it, Dean.”

He smiled a bit, pulling his cloak back over his head as he headed back up to the castle.

Yeah. He couldn’t wait to win against Dean properly next time. That was a game he was genuinely excited for.

Chapter Text

Harry and the rest of Slytherin House’s euphoria at finally winning the Quidditch Cup lasted at least a week. Even the weather seemed to be celebrating the win, as June approached, the days became cloudless and sultry, and all anybody felt like doing was strolling onto the grounds and flopping down on the grass with several pints of iced pumpkin juice, perhaps playing a casual game of Gobstones or watching the giant squid propel itself dreamily across the surface of the lake.

He and Theo had done plenty of that last option, sprawling out across a blanket and enjoying the warmth, and the occasional snogging session.

Now, though, as June began to settle in, the fun and games were quickly coming to an end, as exams were looming over the student body like the shadow of death, and everyone was putting on their game faces.

Harry and Hermione’s studying sessions had gotten that much more intense and, after very minimal debate, they began to include the rest of Harry’s coven as well, going over all of their class materials and quizzing each other on everything they knew would be on the end of year exams.

Questions about electricity, the right kind of tea leaves to use for tessomancy, and the meanings of runes and their uses floated about the empty classroom they had commandeered one Saturday afternoon as they looked over their materials, helping each other out so they could all, at the very least, pass their exams.

And, there was the fact that Harry and Hermione’s testing schedules were far more confusing than they should have been, due to their many classes.

A confusion that Draco voiced the second he saw the timetable laid out in front of them.

“Uh… Hermione? Harry?” He asked, picking up the parchment.

“Hm?” They replied in unison, leaning over a star chart as they plotted out the different constellations.

“You, do realize you have your Arithmancy and Transfiguration exams at the same time, right? And your Charms and Ancient Runes?”

“Yes, we know.” Hermione hummed, tying her hair up into a bun with her wand before she marked out the Cetus constellation.

“Excuse my French, but… How the fuck are you supposed to do that?”

Harry tilted his head a bit, tracing out Andromeda with a hum. “Time Turners.”

There was a strange silence as his friends all processed what he’d just said, which is when Daphne beaned him in the head with a wet tea bag, the wet thunk as it stuck to his scalp startling him and making his head whip up.

“Whuh- What was that for?” He asked, looking between them in confusion. “What did I do?”

“You have a Time Turner?! And you didn’t tell us!?” Blaise gasped in horror, pointing at him with his quill. “Traitor.”

Hermione sighed a bit, a smile on her face as she rubbed her face. “...We weren’t supposed to tell anyone. Minister Fudge’s orders. Although, I guess they don’t matter anymore, since he’s been ousted… Yes, we both have Time Turners.”

She pulled her necklace out of her shirt, prompting Harry to do the same, and Luna leaned over to look at them.

“Ooh, very pretty… Oh, Harry, is this why you seem like you’re older now?” She asked, looking up at them.

He paused, blinking a few times. “Uh… What do you mean by that?”

“Well. You’ve been traveling through time. You stay the same, but nothing else does. So wouldn’t you have aged, because you’re going through more time than the rest of us have?”

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, then she hesitated, her eyes going wide.

“...Oh. Oh my God.” She said quietly. “Harry, how old are we now?”

Harry, however, was staring at his hands with an expression of pure shock, and mild horror as that realization dawned on him.

“...I don’t know. I don’t know at all.”

Theo sighed, rubbing his face before he scooted over to his boyfriend, pulling him into a hug.

“Okay, I think we need to take a break. Their brains are broken, and we need snacks… Nev, would you-?”

“Go down to the kitchens? Absolutely. I don’t want to think about the fact that these two have been Time Traveling for the last nine months.” Neville sighed, standing up and grabbing Harry’s invisibility cloak from his bag so he could slip out of the room unseen. “Be right back.”

Then, he disappeared under it, the door opening and closing to let him out.

Blaise sighed, grabbing a fresh piece of parchment, and a quill, before looking at his friends.

“Okay. Let’s figure out, roughly, how old Harry and Hermione are now, because this is going to haunt me if we don’t know.”

“Agreed.” Daphne nodded a bit, looking like she was about to have a crisis of her own. “So… How often would you say you time traveled?”

So, through their combined efforts, Harry and Hermione began to explain roughly how often they used their Time Turners, and how long they would travel back.

And it was an absolute mess to get through.

—

After about an hour of equations, two large charcuterie boards, and at least one mild mental breakdown on Draco’s part, which only happened after they discovered that Harry and Hermione were at least four months older than they were actually supposed to be.

Which, wasn’t as bad as they expected, but was certainly a large jump.

Especially considering the fact that technically, Harry was now fourteen, and Hermione was now fifteen, it made everyone feel a bit… Weird.

They didn’t have much time to linger on that, however, because they had to get back to studying because, unfortunately, in the face of eleven exams, there was not enough time to have a proper crisis.

So, after multiple weeks of near constant studying and review, they had crammed all the information they could reasonably shove into their brains, and were as ready as they could possibly be for their exams.

Exam week began not long after they completed their studying, and an ominous hush fell over the castle, like the stones themselves were holding their breath.

The third years began their exams with Transfiguration, overseen by Professor Volkov, and all left the room ashen-faced and nervous, comparing results and fretting over the mistakes they had made, even though their professor had not been very strict while marking down mistakes, and had done nothing but encourage everyone the entire time.

Harry and Hermione had slipped away to use their Time Turners, sending themselves back a couple hours so they could take their Arithmancy exams, before rejoining their friends properly for lunch, where they inhaled their food at full speed due to not having eaten for almost nine hours.

After lunch, they went right back upstairs for Charms, where Theo had accidentally overpowered his Cheering Charm and sent Blaise into a fit of hysterical laughter, and he needed to be escorted into another room for half an hour while it wore off, before he could come back to cast the charm himself.

By the time Harry made it back to his dorm after taking four exams in one day, he basically collapsed into his bed, passing out still in his uniform because he was just too exhausted to even think about getting changed.

Most of the exams that followed those four were simple.

Care of Magical Creatures had them taking care of Flobberworms for an hour, which was incredibly easy, as the nasty little creatures basically just needed to be left alone to thrive, so everyone spent the exam reviewing for Potions, where they had to brew a Confusing Concoction.

Then, Professor Sinistra surprised them by canceling their Astronomy exam, and simply requiring them to come up and watch a meteor shower on the tower that night, going so far as to provide cookies and hot cocoa as well.

When Harry asked her why she had canceled their exam at the last second, she had a very simple answer.

“Sometimes, it’s more important to stop and smell the roses. Or, well, watch the meteor shower.”

Which he certainly agreed with.

History of Magic went over witch hunts, while Herbology had them battling vampiric vegetation.

Harry, as well as his friend’s second to last exams, was Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Professor Lupin had compiled the most unusual exam any of them had ever taken: A sort of obstacle course outside in the sun, where they had to wade across a deep paddling pool containing a grindylow, cross a series of potholes full of Red Caps, squish their way across a patch of marsh while ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk, then climb into an old trunk and battle with a new Boggart.

Before Harry could climb into the trunk, however, Lupin grabbed his shoulder, seemingly deciding to not subject the boy to the manifestation of his worst fears again, and just giving him full marks on that section.

He stuck around to watch the rest of his friends go through their exams, and when each of them made their way out of the trunks after succeeding, he gave them tight hugs. Theo held on the longest, keeping his face buried in his boyfriend’s shoulder as he let out a quiet, shuddering breath.

“...Please never do anything stupid again.” He muttered. “I really don’t think I could handle it if something bad happened to you.”

“I’ll do my best.” Harry chuckled a bit, kissing his cheek as they made their way out of the classroom, getting ready to go to their last exams of the week.

Daphne and Neville made their way up into the Divination Tower, while he and Hermione went to Muggle Studies, leaving Blaise, Theo, and Draco to go and take their Ancient Runes exam.

Then, as the sun sat low in the sky, they were all freed from the last of their obligations, and they regrouped in the dorms, sans Hermione, who was going to go and take a nap up in her own dormitory, all of them dropping onto various surfaces from exhaustion and letting out matching groans.

“Remind me to drop like, half of these classes next year.” Harry grumbled, thumping his head against the ground with a sigh. “I can’t do this shit ever again. I’m gonna sleep for a month.”

“That’s so valid…” Daphne replied, flopping face first into Blaise’s bed, rolling herself up in the blankets and going completely limp. “Trelawney’s exam was such shit. I just made things up to get out of there as quickly as possible.”

“Yeah? What did you say?”

“I said that you were going to come face to face with the Grim tonight. She really liked that.”

Neville snorted, the sound halfhearted and exhausted. “Of course she’d like that… I think she’d like to see Harry die, just so her predictions would come true…”

“Fuckin’ bitch…” Theo slurred a bit.

“Yeah… I did write to Mrs. Zabini, though… Maybe she’ll get fired. And we can have a competent professor. I’d take Divination again if she wasn’t the professor…” Harry hummed a bit, taking off his glasses and closing his eyes.

After a bit of murmured agreement, they all fell into a comfortable silence, letting themselves relax after a long, long week of stress.

Then, Harry sat up, a frown on his face.

“...It’s way too quiet in here right now.” He said simply, which was when Blaise sat up as well.

“Agreed. Something’s wrong.”

Luna carefully stood up, prying herself out of Theo’s bed and starting to walk around the room, heading over to the desk that held Pettigrew’s Box with a strange expression.

She picked it up without a word, flicking the latch open, and flipping it upside-down.

Instead of a rat, or even a rat corpse, the little food and water dishes fell out, followed by a piece of parchment fluttering out and nearly landing on the floor. Harry thrust his hand out, summoning the parchment over to him, and he quickly unfolded it, his eyes wide as he read the words scrawled in Sirius’ now familiar handwriting.

-

Pup,

I’m sorry I have to do it this way, but I need to kill this fucking rat. After he betrayed us, it was the only fucking thought I had in my mind, and I just… I need to do it.

For you, for James, for Lily.

I need to kill Peter Pettigrew.

You won’t see me after this, because I need to run, but… Harry, my beautiful, sweet boy. My incredible Godson.

You are loved. You are amazing, and I’m so sorry that I won’t be here to help guide you, but I know you’re in safe hands.

I’ll come back when I know I can trust myself again, and I don’t want you to have to deal with my insanity, not when you deserve the stability and love that Narcissa can give you.

Give her my love when you see her again, and please, don’t try to look for me.

All my love,

Sirius

-

“...Sirius stole Pettigrew.” Harry said quietly, stumbling up to his feet with wide, panicked eyes. “He broke in and stole Pettigrew. He’s going to kill him.”

“Oh fuck.” Theo jumped up. “Where do you think they went?”

“I don’t… I don’t know.”

“There’s very few places they could have gone.” Neville said quickly, sitting up and looking at them. “Somewhere away from the school is the most likely.”

Daphne launched herself out of Blaise’s blankets, scrambling over to Harry’s bag until she dug out The Map, activating it in a fit of panic and scanning the parchment.

“They’re going into the Forbidden Forest. It… It looks like they’re heading to the clearing by the lake. The one we…” She said softly, looking over at her friends, trailing off because they all knew what she was referring to. “...We need to go after them, don’t we?”

“Absolutely.” Harry nodded firmly, his shoulders squaring as he grabbed his bag, digging through it and placing a few items at the very top, that way he could access them easily.

Draco rose to his feet, cracking his neck with a soft groan. “...Alright… I guess we have to go kill a fucking rat. Do we have a plan, or..?”

“No plan.”

“Just, running in, wands blazing?”

“Yep.”

“Oh, great. Mum’s gonna kill us.”

“Not if we clear the name of her favorite cousin.” Harry said simply, slipping his wand into its wrist holster, and looking over at his friends. “Ready?”

And, without a moment’s hesitation, they nodded.

—

In the low light of the setting sun, the Forbidden Forest was somehow creepier than in the dead of night. The long shadows made Harry’s skin crawl, and the soft rustling of the different creatures within the woods moving about made him jump every time one of them got too loud.

Daphne was leading the charge, following the path that Sirius and Pettigrew had taken to get to the Lockhart Clearing. They walked in silence, listening for any unfamiliar sounds or voices to fill the air.

And, the longer there were none, the more terrifying it became.

Harry’s hand found its way into Theo’s as they walked, squeezing it for comfort as the sun continued to set, casting everything in a strange orangey-grey hue. When he looked over at his boyfriend, he saw that his jaw was set, and the way he was glaring ahead made him feel like he was about to watch the boy he loved rip someone to shreds.

Which, granted, he wouldn’t be shocked by or really all that opposed to.

…That was probably something to be concerned about, but, it was also a problem to be dealt with later.

He was about to speak, to ask his boyfriend what he was thinking, when he accidentally walked right into Blaise’s back. The sudden contact startled him, and he stumbled a bit, letting him look around his friend and into the all too familiar clearing.

Where a man stood in the center, holding a squirming, terrified rat that was letting out the most horrific screeching sounds aloft.

A mass of filthy, matted hair hung to his elbows. If eyes hadn't been shining out of the deep, dark sockets, he might have looked like a corpse. His waxy skin was stretched so tightly over the bones of his face, it looked like a skull, and his yellow teeth were bared in a grin.

It was his godfather.

“Sirius!” Harry called, rushing out from behind his friends and into the clearing, startling the man and making him nearly drop Pettigrew.

“Harry..? What are you doing here?” Sirius rasped, his eyes wide and panicked. “You need to go back to the castle. You can’t be here. Not for this.”

“No. No, you don’t get to kill Pettigrew without telling me exactly what happened that night.” He snapped, the familiar magic of his friends, his coven, coming up behind him. Luna grabbed his arm, while Theo slid his hand into his once again, all seven of them staring at Sirius and Pettigrew with stern expressions. “Because I want to know how the fuck Peter Pettigrew betrayed James and Lily.”

The expression on Sirius’ face faltered a bit, and he seemed to mouth those last three words like they had stung him.

“You… You call them James and Lily..?” He murmured, before shaking his head. “No, no… That doesn’t matter… It doesn’t… You deserve to know the truth… Harry, I never betrayed James and Lily. Your father, he was… He was like a brother to me. I loved him more than life itself. I love you more than life itself, and… And I never would have…”

“I know that, Sirius. But why did Peter..?”

“I’d like to know the truth of that as well.” Another voice chimed in, startling the group and causing them all to draw their wands, pointing them at Professor Lupin as he approached. “...Long time no see, Sirius.”

The other man’s face split into a grin, his eyes shining as they flicked between the professor and Harry. “Remus… The years have aged you…”

“They’ve aged you too.” Lupin said simply, narrowing his eyes as he moved closer to his students, holding an arm out in front of them like he was getting ready to fight to protect them. “Now… What are you doing here, Sirius? Why now? Why after all these years..?”

“Because. I didn’t know where Peter was.” Sirius said quietly, turning to look at Pettigrew with an expression of pure hate. “I wanted to last year, when… When Harry’s face was plastered all over the Prophet… The human guards… They talked about what happened non stop, how he was orphaned for a second time, and I… Merlin, how I wanted to escape so I could be there…”

“But as long as Pettigrew was out, you couldn’t.” Draco said softly, stepping up a bit and grabbing Lupin’s wrist, shoving his arm down. “Because you had no proof that you were innocent, except for him.”

Sirius’ gaze softened, and he nodded. “Exactly. The world thought he was dead. The world thought that I killed him, but… But I didn’t.”

“But if Pettigrew is an Animagus…”

Harry’s eyes widened a bit, before he shouted incredulously and pointed at his godfather, who had to tighten his grip on the rat as he squirmed. “...Oh my god… You’re Snuffles! You’re that fucking dog!”

A startled laugh escaped him at that, and he nodded.

“I had to come and check on you first, Harry. I couldn’t just… And seeing you with Hermione? That brilliant girl? I knew you were alright. And knowing that you have Narcissa… I knew you’d be okay. Even if I did this.”

“How did you know that Scabbers was Pettigrew, though?” Blaise asked. “We figured it out because of-” He suddenly clammed up, his eyes wide, and he looked at Harry for a moment.

“...The Marauders Map.” Harry finished for him, turning to look at Sirius and Lupin. “Which… Was made by…”

“Us.” Lupin breathed out. “Sirius, Peter, James, and I…”

“Moony, Wormtail, Padfood, and Prongs.” Daphne said quietly, turning to look at Sirius again. “...Those… Those were your nicknames… But…”

Sirius seemed to be about to speak again, but he was interrupted by the sudden jerking from Pettigrew’s little rat body, which caused him to throw the rat towards the ground, jumping back.

Instinctively, they all pointed their wands at the rapidly growing rat, spells on the tips of their tongues as his body contorted and twisted.

It was like watching a sped-up film of a growing tree. A head was shooting upward from the ground, limbs elongated and extended, and fur shrank into his skin. A moment later, a man was standing where the rat had once been, cringing and wringing his hands.

He was a very short man, hardly taller than Harry and Luna. His thin, colorless hair was unkempt and there was a large bald patch on top. He had the shrunken appearance of a plump man who has lost a lot of weight in a short time. His skin looked grubby, like he was covered in a decade’s worth of grime, and something of the rat lingered around his pointed nose and his very small, watery eyes.

He looked around at them all, his breathing fast and shallow, and he tensed up when he saw eight wands pointed straight at him.

“...Ah… This is… Not what I was expecting…” Pettigrew said quietly, his face cast in shadow as the finally disappeared beyond the horizon. “But… I suppose I can make do with this…”

Shockingly, Neville was the first to cast a spell, stepping forward and attempting to stun the rat.

“Stupefy!” He snapped, just barely missing Pettigrew as he jerked to the side, the spell slamming into a nearby tree and burning it.

And it was the worst possible thing that could have happened.

Because Pettigrew had that moment to move, he launched himself towards Lupin, tackling him to the ground and sinking his bucked teeth into the professor’s shoulder, ripping his head back and tearing a chunk of flesh away and causing him to let out a howl of pain.

Then he ripped Lupin’s wand from his hand, whipping around and sending a flash of red light directly into Harry’s chest, sending him stumbling backwards and launching his wand from his hand.

Theo shouted, moving to grab his boyfriend and keep him upright, but was stopped as another flash of light struck him in the side, forcing him to the ground as he screamed in pain.

“Crucio!” Pettigrew shrieked, and before anyone could move to try and stop him, he jumped forward again, grabbing Theo by his hair and yanking him up to his feet, pressing his stolen wand into the boy’s throat as he heaved and tried to catch his breath.

Silence spread through the air as they were all frozen in place, the sight of their friend’s limp, trembling body held captive by a man they knew was a threat filling their bodies with dread.

If they moved, Theo would be hurt again.

If they didn’t move, Pettigrew might just hurt him anyway.

A strange mixture of white hot rage and icy terror spread through Harry’s body at the sight, and images of his Theo’s body, bloody, broken, and dying on the forest floor where only one year ago they slit the throat of the man who stole his parents from him.

And… And he had no idea what to do.

“So…” The rat said, a sick grin spreading across his face. “...Let’s talk. Shall we?”

Chapter Text

Severus sighed deeply as he made his way up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, a goblet filled with the hideous Wolfsbane Potion in hand.

The only thing that comforted him as he walked was the fact that this dose would be, blissfully, the last one he should have to brew, as the end of the year was just around the corner, and only an act of god would be able to keep the Defense Professor Curse from taking Lupin’s job the way it had all the others.

And that was the only good thing about it.

He could go a thousand lifetimes before looking that man in the eyes again, and even then, it would never be enough.

With another sigh, he opened the door to the classroom, being careful not to spill even a single drop of the sludge in the cup, and he called out.

“Lupin! Your potion!”

No response.

A frown formed on Severus’ face, then.

Lupin always stayed in his classroom and office during the full moon, and only locked everything down once he had taken his potion so he could stay contained.

There was absolutely no reason for him not to be here, and yet…

Severus shook his head, his expression becoming grim as he headed up the short stairs and into the office, pushing the door open and expecting to see his fellow professor, sound asleep at his desk.

And again, nothing.

All that was in the office were strewn about parchments and books, and a shattered glass against the far wall.

No sign of Lupin anywhere.

He whipped his head around, his heart pounding in his chest as the implications of that fact settled over him, trying to steady his breathing.

Tonight was the full moon.

Lupin wasn’t in his office.

And he hadn’t taken his potion.

“...Fuck.” He whispered, dropping the goblet as he rushed back out of the office and down the stairs, flying through the halls as panic surged through his body.

A few of the straggling students, who were still making their way back from dinner and their last exams, launched themselves into the walls as he rushed past, desperate to get out of the way of their potions master.

Sometimes, it paid to be as scary as he was to a majority of the student body.

As he surged up the stairs to the Headmistress’ office after all but shouting the password at the gargoyle, he flung the door open, his chest heaving.

And the sight inside terrified him.

The Headmistress, Professor Babbling, and the Contessa Zabini were all standing around in a panic as the Ancient Runes teacher looked over a map of the castle and the grounds, blood dripping from her hands as she chanted.

Minerva turned to look at him as soon as the door opened, her face deathly pale and grim as she realized who it was.

“Severus? What’s happened?” She asked, her voice wavering.

“Lupin isn’t in his classroom.” He answered immediately. “I was trying to deliver his potion to him, and he-”

“Damn it.” She cursed, shaking her head and knocking a few strands of hair loose from her tight bun, looking at Babbling with worried eyes. “Could that be the-”

“No.” The Runes professor shook her head, pausing her chanting. “No, the wards reacted because an Unforgivable Curse was cast somewhere on the grounds. I haven’t added that block to the wardstone yet, but it still sent an alert to us because of the nature of that magic. I called the Contessa as soon as I felt it.”

“An Unforgivable?” Severus gasped quietly, his entire body going rigid. Contessa Zabini turned to look at him, her hands trembling.

“Bathsheda is attempting to locate where the spell was cast, but it is taking time. We are going to put the school on lockdown.” She explained simply. “Someone who wants to hurt the students is here, and-”

Before she could continue, Severus cursed, his eyes going wide as he ran a hand through his hair.

“...I’ll gather the other heads.” He said simply. “We’ll get the students into the Great Hall. Take a tally there. See if anyone’s missing. A loose werewolf on campus, and someone casting Unforgivables…”

“Lupin is a fucking werewolf?” The Contessa asked, her eyes widening in horror.

Her question was ignored, however, as the three professors were more focused on making their plan.

“Hurry.” Minerva stressed. “I’ll strengthen the wards around the castle myself, just… Make sure that the students are all safe. Please, Severus.”

“Of course.”

He turned on his heel and rushed back out of the room, heading for Ravenclaw Tower first, as it was the closest to the Headmistress’ office.

And, as he ran, a horrible thought settled in the back of Severus’ mind.

Lupin was loose, and even if no one else had wanted to believe him about the werewolf and his old, dear friend, there was only one clear explanation for this.

Black and Lupin were together once again.

And Harry was in danger.

That thought, and that thought alone, made him run faster, his boots pounding against the stone floor of the castle as terror rushed through him.

He could only pray that Babbling was able to locate where the magic had come from, and that he hadn’t just failed to protect the boy once again.

He could never forgive himself if he lost him like this.

—

There was no sound in the forest around them, like the very earth itself was holding its breath as it watched the sight in the clearing.

A traitor, threatening a terrified boy.

A werewolf, bleeding and staggering to his feet with a look of cold fury in his eyes.

A prisoner, weaponless and yet ready to fight all the same.

And children.

Six children, whose gazes were all locked on the traitor, and who were all frozen in a mixture of panic and terror, because one of their own was being held hostage.

And Harry couldn’t breathe.

Harry couldn’t move.

He couldn’t even think.

Pettigrew had Theo. Theo was in danger.

Pettigrew betrayed James and Lily Potter, his biological parents, his Mother and Father, and was now threatening to kill his boyfriend.

What the fuck was he supposed to do?

“...You want to talk, Pettigrew..?” He asked after a moment, his voice thick and raspy as he kept his eyes squarely on Theo, trying to comfort him, to reassure him as best as he could. “Then talk.”

The rat laughed squeezing the boy tighter and making him let out a painful wheeze as the tip of the wand dug further into his neck.

“Good boy… You know, Harry, you really are unlike James.” Pettigrew said with a grin. “He would have rushed headlong into this without a second thought. And I would have killed your little boyfriend here, and that would have been it. You really are a little Slytherin…”

“Get to the fucking point, Pettigrew.” He snapped.

“...I’m sure you already know that I was the traitor… After all, Sirius told you it all on his own. I’m just shocked that you believed him so easily! He’s a Black, after all. They’re known for being mad.”

Draco let out a puff of air a few feet away, and when Harry glanced at him, he could see his friend’s hand desperately clutching at his wand, likely ready to cast whatever spell he could just to shut the man up.

Harry let out a bitter laugh at that, shaking his head as he ran a hand through his hair. “...Narcissa and Draco are Blacks, too. Even if their names are Malfoy.”

Pettigrew laughed as well, and for the first time, he could see the madness that lurked behind the man’s eyes.

He was completely and utterly insane.

…He could use that.

“So… If we’re talking.” He said quietly, his eyes never leaving Pettigrew’s. “...Can I ask you a question?”

Lupin and Sirius both looked at him in disbelief, but he didn’t look at them. He had to keep his focus on Pettigrew, and Pettigrew alone.

“Sure, Harry. You can ask a question. For old time’s sake.”

“Why did you betray them? Lily and James? Was it Voldemort’s power that turned you to his side? Was it the allure of Dark Magic? Or was it something else?”

That seemed to stop the rat in his tracks, and Harry could see the way his eyes flickered back and forth, like he was trying to find the right answer.

“...It was power.” Pettigrew said after a moment. “...The Light side was losing. They just… They didn’t have the damn strength to kill. That was the problem. They didn’t want to kill, and I didn’t want to die!”

“So I turned. I offered to spy, but I was spying for My Lord. I told him where James and Lily were, and from there, they found Frank and Alice too!” He cackled, his eye twitching as his stance became unsteady, jerking Theo around a bit and making the boy’s eyes widen in terror. “Everything fell into place! I was going to rule with him, right at his side, because I helped him kill the little fucking whelp who was supposed to end him!”

Harry grit his teeth.

He felt no connection to James and Lily, but… Frank and Alice were Neville’s parents.

And the rat just admitted that he played a part in their torture as well.

“...You’re fucking sick, you know that?” Harry snapped suddenly, startling Pettigrew once again, causing him to jerk straight up again, his eyes blown like saucers as he stared at the boy in front of him. “You’re fucking sick, and I can’t wait to kill you myself.”

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, like the man in front of him couldn’t believe what he had just said.

That is, they stared at each other in silence until a large rock came flying from Harry’s left, cracking Pettigrew in the side of the head and knocking him to the right, loosening his grip on Theo just long enough for the other boy to rip himself away and stumble forward into Harry’s arms.

He pulled him close protectively, his head whipping up to see where the rock had come from, only to see Blaise, magic sparking in his right hand, and a sheen of sweat on his brow.

He grinned at his friend.

“...Nice shot.”

“Thanks, Harry- OH SHIT-”

Magic sparked behind him, and without a second thought, Harry flung himself and Theo to the side, just narrowly avoiding a crackling green light that had been sent their way. He whipped his head around, seeing a now bleeding Pettigrew with Lupin’s wand still in hand, his teeth bared in a visible threat.

“You fucking brat-! I’ll kill you!” He shrieked, before another barrage of spells were being flung at him by the rest of Harry’s friends, causing him to have to throw up a shield as he stumbled back.

Blaise rushed over, grabbing Theo from him and helping him to his feet, only letting him go once he was sure his friend wouldn’t fall, and handing him his wand back.

“Harry. I’ve got him.” He said simply. “Do what you need to do.”

He nodded grimly, looking at his boyfriend and giving him a quick kiss before he whipped around, his eyes locking onto his target as magic rushed into his hands.

And, at the brief flash of terror he saw in the rat’s eyes, he couldn’t help but smile.

Fire flew from his fingertips as he thrust his hands forward, jets of flames launching across the clearing and slamming into the shield that had been erected around the traitor.

As the shield shattered, Daphne’s Flipendo struck him square in the chest, sending him flying through the air.

Sirius pounced then, his fists flying as they connected with Pettigrew’s face. The other man could barely fight back due to being disoriented, but he was able to land a few blows, before knocking Sirius off of him and stumbling back to his feet.

In a desperate attempt to escape, he turned back into a rat, Lupin’s wand clutched in his teeth, and took off running.

“After him!” Draco shouted, and before anyone could even stop and think, they were off as well, chasing a rat through the darkened woods.

Fire continued to dance at Harry’s fingertips, occasionally catching the bark of a tree and sending sparks up and down it. One tree burst into flames as he slammed straight into it, a grunt of pain escaping him before he was hauled up to his feet by Lupin, who was breathing like a starving animal on a hunt.

He didn’t even stop to say anything, simply took off once again, and Harry didn’t have a moment to even stop and try to put the fire out, rushing after his godfathers and friends, who were still launching spells and trying to catch the rat.

As they sprinted out into another clearing, however, Pettigrew froze, turning back into a human and looking up at the sky in horror.

He slowly turned back to look at his pursuers, who all looked up at the sky as well.

And when Harry saw the bright, silvery moon in the sky, Lupin’s feral nature suddenly made sense.

As did the horrible, guttural noises, mixed with the cracking of bones, that escaped the man behind him.

It was a full fucking moon.

“...Oh, fuck.” Luna said quietly, all of the color having drained from her face as she turned to look at Lupin.

Harry slowly turned around as well, only to be met by yellow eyes, and a gasping, gaping maw of sharp teeth and claws, attached to the hunched, mangy looking body of what was once a man.

And, there was only one thing he could say in response as he stumbled back, Lupin’s eyes still locked onto him as he let out a low, rumbling growl, before he pounced.

“Oh fuck indeed.”

—

Daphne didn’t know what had possessed her in that moment, as she watched the werewolf who had just moments ago been their Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor fly through the air towards one of her best friends, his teeth bared like he was going to rip Harry’s throat out and feast on what remained.

But, without thinking, she had rushed forward, tackling her friend out of the way and sending them both sprawling out across the ground. A sharp flash of pain went up her leg as Lupin’s claws sank into it for a moment, ripping through her calf as they rolled away. The pain, however, quickly dissipated as adrenaline coursed through her body, forcing her back up to her feet as she stared at the werewolf, who licked at her blood on his claws.

Then, he looked at her, a low growl escaping his chest as he slowly crept towards her.

“Daphne-!” Neville shouted, panic evident in his voice.

“I’m fine!” She shouted back, slowly backing away from Lupin as her heart pounded in her chest, her own growl escaping her. “You all deal with Pettigrew! I’ll handle this!”

And before she could hear their shouts of protest, she took off running at full speed, heading back towards the faint lights of the castle that she could see in the distance. Lupin let out a blood curdling howl, and tore off after her.

The hunt was on, and she was the prey.

“Shit shit shit shit-” She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes as she ran, just barely able to dodge the trees and roots that blocked her path, the hammering sounds of the werewolf’s paws against the earth mixing with the sound of her blood rushing in her ears.

All she had to do was make it to the castle. That’s all she had to do.

She could get help.

As Daphne broke through the treeline, however, she had a moment of horrible realization.

If she went inside, that would just leave her friends at risk again, and who knows if the professors would even be able to get to them in time?

Hell, would she even be able to make it into the castle before he caught her and ripped her to shreds?

“Fuck!” She shouted, veering sharply to the left and sprinting towards Hagrid’s hut, her blood running cold once again as she heard Lupin’s howl.

He was gaining on her.

“HYAH!”

There was a shout from ahead of her, and… It sounded oddly familiar.

It, almost sounded like Harry?

But that was impossible. Harry was back in the woods. Harry was facing down Pettigrew with the others, and-

Before her mind could race further, a flash of silver caught her attention, and the speeding form of Nestor came into view as he raced towards her.

Or, more aptly, raced towards Lupin.

Daphne’s eyes widened, and she spun around as Nestor passed her by entirely, accidentally knocking her onto her ass in the process, letting out a whinny of pure rage as he rose up on his hind legs and stomped on Lupin, the sounds of bones crunching beneath his hooves making her flinch.

The unicorn stomped on him a few more times, shattering his left arm in at least three places and completely dislocating his jaw, judging by the way it limply hung at his side as he ran away, blood beginning to leak from his nose.

Once Lupin was out of sight, Nestor carefully made his way over to her, sniffing and huffing worriedly as he leaned down next to her face, seemingly checking her over.

She sobbed in relief, wrapping her arms around her unicorn’s neck as he pulled her up to her feet. She buried her face against him, keeping the weight on her good leg as he turned his head to embrace her as well, trying to comfort her as best as he could.

“Thank you, Nestor…” Daphne whispered, clinging to him as she shivered. “You’re the best…”

And although he couldn’t speak, Nestor let out a huff that somehow sounded like ‘I know’, and she chuckled a bit at that.

The brief moment of peace they had was interrupted, however, by the sudden scent of smoke filling the air, and they both turned to look at the source.

Brilliant orange flames were erupting from the Forbidden Forest, smoke billowing into the air and filling the sky with a strange haze.

“Oh no…” Daphne said quietly, and, despite the pain that was starting to ebb from her ankle, hoisted herself up onto Nestor’s back, the unicorn kneeling down a bit to help her up. Once she was secure, she gently patted him on the flank. “Let’s go, Nestor!”

Without any further hesitation, he ran into the forest, braving the flames and smoke as she wrapped her arms around his neck, guiding him through the chaos so she could, hopefully, reach her friends before the blaze consumed them.

And hopefully, the professors would see the fire before then too.

—

Pettigrew was a shockingly good duelist, and he fought dirty.

He fought very, very dirty.

And while Harry should have expected that fact, it still enraged him more than anything else had in a long time.

In the chaos that had erupted when Lupin had attempted to rip his throat out, and Daphne saving him at her own personal risk, Pettigrew had taken that opportunity to send Draco flying into a tree, his body crashing into it with a sickening thud as before he hit the ground, going completely limp as he landed.

And that had caused a whole new string of spells to start launching, all the while, Sirius was attempting to pound the rat’s face into pulp, getting caught in the crossfire more often than not.

Soon after that, fire had erupted around them, likely caused by his burning hands accidentally catching the trees as they had chased after Pettigrew in a mindless rage, and trying to avoid being caught in the blaze was on the back of everyone’s minds.

Everything became a strange blur as they fought, and after a while, Harry couldn’t tell who had cast what spell, only that jets of light were flying back and forth, sometimes striking their target, but missing just as often.

“Confringo!”

“Stupefy!”

“Expelliarmus!”

“Expulso!”

As they fought, Harry was trying to shield his friends as much as possible, from both the fire and the spells that were being hurled at them, stumbling back and forth as magic flew from his fingertips, his shoulders starting to ache from the strain of the fight.

But, he knew he would run out of steam soon.

He just wanted to end the fight before that happened, because he was terrified of what Pettigrew would do if he wasn’t able to shield everyone in time.

He had just blocked another Diffindo from striking Neville in the side, the shield that surrounded him flickering as he dropped his hand, his breath coming in pained gasps as he struggled to stay upright, starting to cough as he sucked down a lungful of smoke instead of air.

The fire was getting worse.

Great orange flames had consumed the trees around them, effectively trapping them inside of the clearing with no way out.

And it was all his fault.

“Fuck…” Harry whispered, tears pricking his eyes as he looked up, watching as Theo, Blaise, and Pettigrew shot spells at one another, his vision blurring as the smoke stung his eyes. Even through that haze, however, he saw the rat raise his wand up, a sick grin spreading across his face as he shouted out another spell.

“BOMBARDA MAXIMA!”

As the spell hit the ground, everything went white, and he felt himself lift off the ground for a moment.

Everything seemed to slow down as he soared through the air, his vision clearing for a moment as he watched the earth erupt, the rest of his friends being launched into the air as well.

He could see Daphne, who had just arrived atop Nestor, being launched into a nearby tree, the front of her shirt exploding with a rush of blood as a broken branch impaled itself through her back, coming out her front and sticking a few inches out of her body. The unicorn had been blasted away as well, but had narrowly missed the trees, being launched out into the still burning forest.

Blaise and Theo had been sent straight into the air, as they had been the closest to the blast, and both had landed in crumpled heaps upon the ground, unmoving and barely breathing.

He slowly turned his head in an effort to look and see if Luna, Neville, and Draco were okay, but before he could even make it halfway, he hit the ground once again, the force of it knocking what little air he had in his lungs out of his body and breaking at least two ribs, making it even harder to breathe.

It took a moment for his eyes to stop tearing, and for his body to stop buzzing, but once he pushed himself up again, he was able to properly see the carnage.

And god… It was carnage.

And he could see his friends again.

Their bodies, their barely breathing, broken bodies.

Draco was bleeding profusely, a rapidly spreading pool forming around him as the wound on the back of his head, and his stomach, drained him.

Neville, seemingly in an attempt to protect his already injured friend, had managed to get himself partially hung by his tie and a piece of wood that had lodged itself in the tree he was next to, still fighting and pulling at the piece of fabric as he hung about a foot off the ground.

“No… No-...” Harry gasped, slowly crawling forward, flames licking at his body. “...Please… Please… Not… Not them…”

The smoke and the flames were still making it hard to see at times, and the tears that were streaming down his cheeks weren’t helping either.

So, he hadn’t even noticed that he had nearly collapsed on top of Luna until he heard her pained, gurgling gasps.

He looked down at her, letting out a quiet sob.

Her hands desperately clutched at her neck and the thin piece of wood that was lodged in it, possibly part of a wand, as blood gushed through her fingers.

“Fuck- fuck fuck fuck- Luna-” Harry sobbed, his voice coming out in a painful rasp, as carefully pushed himself up to his knees and slid his arm underneath her, carefully lifting her up against his chest, her head rolling against his shoulder as she continued to fight to breathe. “Nonono, it’s gonna be okay, it’s gonna be okay-”

He coughed, the smoke mixing with the air in his lungs once again as he, too, fought to breathe.

“...I’m so sorry…” He whispered, gently resting his forehead on top of hers. “...I’m… I’m so sorry… I couldn’t… I shouldn’t have done this… I…”

His breath hitched when he felt her small, bloody hand reach up and gently brush his cheek, causing him to look down with wide, tearfilled eyes.

Luna gave him a weak smile, blood staining her teeth as she looked up at him.

“It’s… O-... Kay…” She gasped out, the sound thick and wet. “...Al… Ways… By… Side…”

“Luna-” He sobbed, clutching her closer, his heart sinking as he felt her hand fall from his face, her body growing limper and limper in his arms.

Panic fell over him in that moment, coursing through his veins and making every inch of his body feel numb, and yet like he was burning alive all at once.

It was agony. It was horrific.

It was all his fault.

He slowly raised his head, his eyes locking onto Sirius and Pettigrew as they wrestled each other into the flames, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He didn’t care, because no matter where he turned, he could see his friends slowly dying.

Dying because he decided that he wanted to confront Pettigrew himself.

He killed them. He was killing them.

He was a monster.

Then, from the back of his mind, a voice he hadn’t heard in months spoke up.

A voice that sounded eerily like his own.

“...You know what you have to do, Harry.” It said quietly, the smile in its tone as plain as could be. “...It’s just like what you did for Castor. Remember? You killed his father, to save him. Sure, you couldn’t choose who died for him, but… You can brute force it now. You can do it. You can save them.”

“All you have to do is die.”

He closed his eyes, nodding slowly.

That’s right. All he needed to do was die.

Slowly, the way he had done what felt like a thousand times, he reached down into the pocket of his jeans, carefully pulling his knife out and flicking it open.

Harry paused for a moment, slowly turning his head up to the sky, barely making out the stars through the haze of smoke and fire.

But, they were still there. They were all still there.

And, as a smile pulled onto his lips, he raised the blade to his throat and ripped it across, his vision going black almost immediately as he felt the skin split beneath the sharp metal.

As long as his friends survived, he was happy to die.

—

“Oh… Haz… Don’t you worry your pretty little head, baby… Mama’s got you. I’ve always got you. Just sit tight… I’ll fix this. I promise.”

“Just sit tight.”

Chapter Text

A blissful void.

That was what Harry could best describe what he was experiencing at the moment, especially considering the fact that his body had felt like he was trapped in a sort of numb agony not even a few minutes ago.

He could vaguely remember the pain of his throat splitting open, of the limp body in his arms, and the blaze that surrounded them, but at the same time, it…

It felt like a distant memory, almost like a dream.

And he was tired. He was so, so tired…

He could almost feel the soft sand under his body, tickling his hands as the warm summer sun warmed him through his clothes- not his school clothes, he noticed absently. It felt more like his favorite hoodie and a pair of jeans than the robes he had gotten accustomed to wearing during the day. A light, salty breeze rustled his hair, and a gentle set of hands were running their hands over his forehead, brushing his fringe away from his face as he rested his head in their lap.

“Harry? Wake up, sweetheart…” A woman’s gentle voice said, one that felt… So very familiar.

“Huh..?” He said softly, slowly blinking his eyes open, expecting to be blinded by the bright light of the sun, but he thankfully wasn’t, and he was sure the woman’s hand blocking his eyes from the harsh rays had something to do with that.

“There you are, baby…” She said softly, and Harry’s heart clenched. He quickly sat up, his head lifting out of her lap as he turned to look at her. Soft, grey eyes looked back at him, a pale face framed by curly, black hair.

And her smile. The very same smile that had greeted Harry every morning for six years. One of the first things he saw after waking up, and one of the last before he fell asleep at night.

“...Mum..?” Harry asked, his voice cracking.

Fiona chuckled. “Who else would I be, Haz?”

Before he could fully process what he was seeing in front of him, Harry flung his arms around her, his face burrowing itself into her neck as he began to cry. Her arms hugged him just as fiercely, one hand around his back while the other rested on the back of his head as she pressed a kiss to his temple.

He sobbed for what felt like hours, savoring the feeling of his mum rubbing his back and murmuring unintelligible words of comfort into his ear. She didn’t try to stop him, she didn’t say anything more than necessary, she just… Held him.

Eventually, Harry was able to compose himself a bit, and he pulled away, letting his mum wipe away his tears and hold his face gently.

“Oh, look at you… My sweet boy…” She whispered. “You’ve been through so much…”

He laughed softly at that, the sound wet and crackly. “Yeah… You could say that…”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, Mum, you… You died… You, Dad, and Prue died, and…”

“Still…” Fiona sighed a bit, her eyes still filled with tears. “You’ve suffered so much… I… I can’t help but blame myself for so much of it. I’m just relieved the Malfoys took you in… I knew they would, but… But I was afraid you would lock yourself away. I didn’t want that for you. I didn’t want you to do what I did when I lost my dad…”

“Oh, Mum…”

She shook her head, steadying her breathing with relative ease, before she turned back towards her son.

“Do you recognize where we are, baby?” She asked him quietly, and, for the first time, Harry looked around.

They were sitting on an all too familiar beach, with small cottages lining the shore, watching the waves crash against the sand in a place that held so many memories for them both.

“Southend-on-Sea.” He smiled softly, a chuckle escaping him. “I keep… I keep dreaming about this place… About all the nights we came here when we couldn’t sleep… Did you know that Narcissa does that too? She has nights where no matter what she does, she just… Can’t get to sleep.”

“Yeah?” Fiona chuckled, standing up carefully and shaking the sand off of her skirt, reaching a hand out to him. “Tell me all about what I’ve missed, baby… And we can talk while we walk through the water…”

Harry’s eyes lit up at that, and he took her hand, pulling himself up to his feet before kicking off his trainers, following her down to the water’s edge and squeezing her fingers as they began to walk, the cold water splashing against their feet as he chattered on about everything he’d experienced over the past year.

He told her about the Basilisk, about cleaning out the house with Neville. How Lucius and Narcissa reminded him so much of them, and that he felt really at home with them, but still missed his Mum and Dad more than anything.

Then he detailed Lupin, Sirius, the Dementors, and the chaos that had ensued with all of that, and he made sure to mention getting his heir rings, because he knew Fiona would enjoy the old, gothic style jewelry.

And the longer he talked, the more… The more at peace he felt.

He was with his Mum.

He was safe.

Nothing could hurt him when he was here.

They walked for a while, chattering about everything and nothing at all, before Fiona paused, turning to look at her son with a gentle smile, and taking his face into her hands as they stopped walking.

“Harry… My brave boy…” She said quietly, pulling his gaze up to hers. “I need you to do something for me, okay?”

“Uh… Okay..?” Harry replied with a frown, gently resting his hands on top of hers. “What is it, Mum?”

“I can’t keep you here, baby. I have to take you back.”

“Back..?”

“It’s not your time. It’s not your time at all. You’re fourteen years old, Haz. You’re not supposed to be dead. Even if you aren’t dead yet, if I keep you here much longer, you will be. I just… I can’t do that to you. I can’t let you die.” Fiona whispered, tears brimming in her eyes once again. “I lived a life. Yes, I died young, but everyone else in my family did too. I married the love of my life, I had two beautiful, amazing children, and I passed on my family legacy to my child. That’s all I ever wanted to do with my life, and… And I did it. But you? You’ve barely lived. You’re still a child, and you…”

She let out a soft, shaky breath, blinking away tears.

“You have to live, Harry. Even if it hurts. Especially, if it hurts.”

He frowned more, his hands squeezing hers.

“But I-... I don't want to leave you again. I don't want to leave-” He hesitated, blinking a few times as dull pain rushed through his head. “What..?”

“You can’t stay here, Harry.” Fiona insisted. “You need to live. You need to live because I am begging you to, okay? You are gonna grow up, you are gonna marry someone you love more than life itself, and if you feel like it? You’re gonna have some little magical babies. I don’t care who it’s with, I don’t care who you choose to share your future with, as long as you’re happy and safe. Promise me.”

“Promise me that you're gonna be happy, and you're gonna stick by the people who love you.”

“Mum-”

“Promise me, Harry.”

Harry looked up at her, tears spilling down both of their cheeks. “...I promise. I’ll be happy, and I’ll be safe. And I’ll stick by the people who love me.”

She gave him a small smile, every inch of her relaxing at his confirmation, before she leaned in and kissed the top of his head.

“That’s my boy…” She whispered, pulling away slowly. “Now… Don’t worry about a thing. Mama’s got this. I love you, Harry Hartford. Never forget that. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Harry said firmly, pain continuing to ebb through his head as he looked up at his mum’s smiling face. Then, before he could even think to question her, she shoved him backwards into the surf, forcing him to close his eyes as the cold water rushed around him for a moment before it turned into a blazing heat and a searing pain in his neck.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the fire burning around him, and the raw magic that flowed through his body made him ache.

It flowed through his body like blood, caressing his skin and every inch of him, wrapping around himself and Luna, who was still securely in his arms, like a shield against the blaze around them.

Flames licked at the magic, but did not pass through, and the stronger his magical shield became, the less heat he felt coming through.

Harry slowly turned his head, his vision still hazy and blurry, reaching out with thick tendrils of magic and gently wrapping one around each one of his friends, letting it soak into their skin and cling to them desperately.

One by one, he lifted their limp bodies up and away from what held them down, unpinning Daphne and Neville from the trees, pulling Draco, Blaise, and Theo up from the ground, and wrapping them all in their own personal blankets of magic, the outer shells hardening almost like a candy coating as the tendrils pulled them closer to him.

A shudder of relief ran through him as he felt each of their heartbeats, their lungs slowly inflating and deflating.

They were weak. All of them were.

But he could keep them going.

Long enough to get help. That's all he needed to do.

He began to take slow, deep breaths, keeping his heart rate as steady as he possibly could, and smiling a bit when he felt each one of theirs rise to match his.

Warmth flowed from the rings on his hands, and from the rings on his neck, strengthening the magic that wrapped around him and his friends, desperate to keep them safe and shielded from the blaze around them.

And, as Harry closed his eyes, ready to protect his coven with every last bit of magic he had, he felt two hands carefully wrap around his neck from behind, holding his slit throat closed as best as they could.

He didn't know who it was, and he didn't have the strength to physically ask, so he did the only thing he could.

“Thank you…” He thought, relaxing a bit as he settled into a more comfortable kneeling position, his head tilting back a bit to rest against their shoulder.

And though the person said nothing back, the familiar magic that ebbed from their hands, the same magic that flowed through him at that moment, told him everything he needed to know.

—

Getting the students down into the Great Hall was far easier than any of the professors had expected, mostly due to the fact that they could sense the anxiety in the adults and decided, for once, to listen without protest.

Currently, everyone was gathered in the center of the room, wrapped up in blankets and clutching pillows that had been conjured for them by Volkov, who was also helping the Hogwarts house elves pass out snacks and drinks to everyone, trying to keep them calm in light of this stressful situation.

In the process, he and the elves were taking roll, making sure that every single student was present and accounted for.

Which, in a perfect world, they would be.

But this was not a perfect world.

And Severus had to go and tell the Contessa Zabini that her son, and his friends, were missing and unaccounted for, because a majority of them were from his house.

It was not something he was looking forward to doing. Not at all.

He let out a shaky sigh, trying to even out his breathing and voice before he walked over to her, the roll call parchment in his hands as he made his way over to her, holding the parchment out.

Contessa Zabini smiled softly, although the anxiety in the expression was present as she took it from his hands, her eyes scanning the words written upon it for a moment before her smile fell into a frown.

“...Where is my son? And his friends? …Severus, where are my children?” She asked him, turning to look at him with a gaze that was quickly turning from concerned to angered.

“Harry, Draco, Blaise, Theo, Daphne, Neville, and Luna are all missing.” Severus said quietly, looking at the Contessa with an expression he knew made him look like a kicked puppy. “I have no idea where they physically are, but my guess is that they’re in the woods.”

“The woods.” She nodded slowly. “...My son… All of them… All of the children that I love and care for as if they are my own… Are in the woods? Where Bathsheda has just told us an Unforgivable Curse was cast? Where there is currently a loose werewolf running around? Those woods?”

“...Yes.”

Contessa Zabini nodded again, a slow breath of air escaping through her nose as her shoulders sagged. Severus instinctively took a step back, and, as soon as he did, she launched into a tirade in what was possibly the angriest sounding Italian he had ever heard in his life.

“QUESTA SCUOLA È COSÌ TERRIBILMENTE GESTITA CHE PUOI PERDERE LE TRACCE DI UN INTERO GRUPPO DI FOTTUTI STUDENTI E NON REALIZZARLO PER PIÙ DI UN'ORA!? CHE CAZZO?!”

He flinched, but thankfully, she was able to regain control over herself before she went too far, taking a few deep breaths and squaring her shoulders again.

“We are going out to find them. Now.” She declared, shaking her head. “I am not waiting a moment longer.”

Minerva looked over at them, her face going pale. “Juliana. You can’t be serious. We have no idea what’s happening out there-”

“All the more reason for me to go and find my damn son.”

“Minister Bones is on her way with a team of Aurors. Can’t you wait a few more minutes for them to arrive?”

Contessa Zabini stared at her for a moment, her dark eyes piercing into the headmistress’ soul.

A lot can be conveyed with a person’s eyes.

And all Severus could see was the burning anger within the other woman, the rage that was barely held under the surface as she fought back the urge to snap once again.

Before she could, however, Aurora burst through the doors, her eyes wide and panicked.

“The Forest is on fire.” She said plainly, her chest heaving. “The Forest is on fire. We need to go. Now.”

Contessa Zabini immediately rushed for the door, and, against his better judgement, Severus followed close behind, pulling his wand from its holster as they ran.

He could vaguely hear a slew of Russian cursing from the Great Hall, before Volkov and Aurora followed as well.

“The other heads of house are staying behind to watch the students!” Volkov called to them. “Poppy is going up to the Infirmary to gather as many potions and salves as she can before she meets us down there!”

“Good. We are going to need them.” Contessa Zabini said firmly as she dashed through the main doors of the castle, allowing them to finally see the brilliant blaze that was making its way through the forest. Severus staggered, his eyes going wide as his throat clenched.

He had never seen anything more beautiful and terrifying in his entire life.

“Gods above…” Aurora whispered, covering her mouth with her free hand. “...This is horrible…”

“We cannot dawdle.” Volkov grit his teeth. “There are students in danger.”

He pushed forward, his shoulders squared as he made his way down the hill, the rest of the group joining him after another moment spent in horrified awe at the sight ahead of them.

As they reached the forest’s edge, another group joined them, this one headed by their new Minister, and the new head of the DMLE.

“Contessa Zabini!” Minister Bones shouted above the roaring flames. “What are you doing down here?!”

“My son is in here!” She shouted back, raising her wand and staring at the blaze. “As well as his friends!”

Auror Shacklebolt hissed, looking at the trees and obviously trying to find an opening. “How long have they been inside?”

“We don’t know.” Severus called over to him. “But because an Unforgivable was cast, we have reason to believe that Sirius Black is inside as well!”

“And you have an unpotioned werewolf running around?!”

“Yes!”

“Bloody hell, man! What is happening?”

“Fucking chaos!”

Shacklebolt turned to look at the rest of the Aurors, ordering them to look for a way into the blaze, and to begin trying to put it out as much as they could.

Jets of water went flying towards the burning trees, putting out many of them as they slowly worked their way closer, trying to soak the wood to prevent the fire spreading much further.

As they worked, the Contessa continued to pace worriedly, her hands shaking as she tried to keep herself calm. It was obvious that she wanted to run in and do everything she could to make it to her son, but the knowledge that she would likely kill herself in the process kept her from doing so.

Severus made his way over to her, gently grabbing her arms as he looked her in the eyes.

“...They’ll be fine.” He said softly. “They’ve been through worse. We have backup. We’ll get to them.”

“This is different.” She shook her head. “This is different, because I cannot get to them right now. And I cannot… I cannot lose my son too.”

“I know. Trust me. I know. We just have to wait for the Aurors. It isn’t safe, not yet.”

“Uhm… Guys?” Aurora said from a few feet away.

“We can cast spells on ourselves to keep us from being burned.” The Contessa insisted. “We can-”

“Guys?”

“Against a fire like this? We’d just burn for longer!” Severus protested.

“GUYS?!”

“What!?” They both turned to look at the Astronomy professor, who was frozen in place, staring at a ghostly, wispy apparition standing at the treeline.

The silvery-blue glow the apparition gave off reminded Severus of a Patronus, although he knew that a Patronus couldn’t take the shape of a human, but… As the apparition got closer, a horrible realization dawned on him.

He recognized this person.

He recognized her curly hair, her stern gaze, and he even recognized the injuries on her body. The way she staggered, like her ankle had been cut. The wounds and slashes that covered her body, and even the slightly darker stains on her face, reminiscent of blood.

This was Fiona Hartford.

At least… Some version of her.

As the apparition of Fiona made its way over to them, staggering and limping her way up, Contessa Zabini pulled away from him, her eyes filling with tears. She stepped forward, reaching her hands out towards the apparition, who smiled softly, but kept walking.

Once Fiona stood in front of the group, she raised her hands up, a strange blue shield rising up around them. Minister Bones looked like she wanted to move forward, to try and grab the ghostly figure, but before she could, the blaze erupted.

It was like an explosion had occurred from within the trees, sending the fire out towards them in a rush.

But the shield held firm, blocking each of the wixen inside from being burned.

Once the blaze burnt out, leaving the trees smoldering, singing the grass around them, but thankfully not catching anything else, Fiona dropped the shield, and began her strange, staggering walk back down to the trees.

She paused, only for a moment, to turn back to them, gesturing for them to follow, before her physical form disappeared, and her silvery blue light began to dance through the trees.

Taking the signal, the group sprinted after her, dodging the trees and covering their mouths to try and avoid breathing in ash and smoke as much as they could.

Severus didn’t know how long they had been running, but before long, they reached a clearing, the one that the blaze had obviously been circling, and…

Each of the students were there, lying together like they were simply resting under the stars, their clothes soaked in blood, and yet…

He couldn’t see a single injury on them, beyond the still oozing gash on Daphne’s calf.

“...What in hell..?” One of the Aurors asked as Volkov knelt down next to Harry, the glowing ball of light hovering above him and pulsing.

“...They are all alive.” The professor said in quiet amazement. “Each of them are alive…”

“You’re sure?” Madam Bones asked, her voice shaking a bit. “You’re completely sure?”

“Yes. Look at them.”

Severus knelt beside him, and, sure enough, all seven of them were breathing steadily, and their hearts were beating.

That was when he noticed the piece of parchment clutched in Luna Lovegood’s bloody hand, and he carefully grabbed it from her, the writing inside smudged ever so slightly with blood, but still legible.

-

Everyone’s condition is stable, but they all need to be checked over.

Injuries Sustained

Daphne: Impaled on tree from behind, possible lung and heart damage? Werewolf cut on leg

Luna: Stabbed in left side of neck, wood removed, check for damage to windpipe

Theo: Cruciatus Curse, burns from explosion

Blaise: Burns from explosion, gash on left arm

Neville: Damage to throat via hanging, mild burns

Draco: Broken ribs, stomach, cut, and head trauma

Harry: Slightly burned at the hands and throat slashed, windpipe and vocal cords likely damaged

-

Severus frowned a bit as he passed the note over to Volkov.

“This handwriting… It’s familiar, isn’t it?” He asked quietly, earning a nod from the other professor.

“It is. But I… I do not remember whose it is.”

Contessa Zabini knelt down next to Blaise, a sob of relief escaping her as she pressed her forehead against her sleeping son’s and smiling.

“Oh, my sweet boy… Everything is going to be fine…” She whispered, before sitting up again, wiping the tears from her cheeks and looking up at the glowing ball of light. “...Fiona… Thank you… I… I can take it from here.”

The ball seemed to shudder, before it's glow dimmed, like it was relieved at the Contessa’s words.

Then, it dimmed completely, before falling against Harry’s chest and disappearing.

Auror Shacklebolt made his way over to them, his expression grim.

“...All of the missing students are accounted for?” He asked quietly, and when he got a nod in response, he sighed in relief. “Thank Merlin… Then that means the remains over here must belong to Black.”

Severus’ heart skipped a beat as he looked up, and sure enough, the rest of the Aurors, and the Minister, were gathered around what looked to be the burned remains of a man, although any identifying features were long gone.

Black was dead.

“...So that’s it..?” He asked quietly. “It’s… It’s over?”

“It’s over.” Shacklebolt nodded.

“Thank the Gods…” He rolled his shoulders, a sigh escaping him. “We need to get the students up to Poppy. Now. Even if this note says that they’re all okay, I would much prefer a Healer’s opinion.”

“Does mine not count?” Volkov asked, a slight level of teasing to his voice that made Severus huff in his direction.

“Not when I compare it with Poppy’s, no.”

“Fair enough.”

With a bit of effort, they were able to levitate each of the students into the air, carefully floating them out of the burnt forest and back up towards the school as the Aurors did a few sweeps of the burnt clearing, attempting to confirm that the burnt corpse they had found truly was Black.

They had nearly made it to the Hospital Wing when Poppy came barrelling out, her eyes wide and terrified.

“Severus! Severus, I need more dittany, and more silver powder!” She called, rushing over to them and grabbing the front of his robes, nearly causing him to drop Luna and Draco.

“How can you be out?” He asked, managing to right himself and keep the two unconscious students levitated. “We haven’t even brought you Miss Greengrass yet, and she’s the only werewolf injury we have.”

“No. Someone brought Miss Granger and Remus up to me five minutes ago.” The medi-witch stressed. “He’s bound and locked up in my office, but she’s… She’s…”

“What happened to Miss Granger?” Volkov asked in alarm, his eyes widening. Poppy wiped the tears from her eyes, and before she could even speak, the realization of what happened dawned on Severus.

His voice trembled a bit when he spoke, horror coursing through his veins as the reality of the situation settled in.

“...She’s been bitten.”

And a horrified, solemn silence spread over them at that declaration.

—

Truth be told, Harry could go the rest of his life without ever being questioned by Aurors again.

For that matter, he could also go the rest of his life without ever waking up in the hospital wing again, but, he had a feeling that he would never be so lucky.

He sat in his hospital bed, wrapped up tightly in the thin, medical issue blanket that lay over each one, as he listened to the Aurors and his Professors discuss what happened with each one of his friends.

Well, kind of.

His ears were ringing far too much for him to really process any of the words that they were saying, because his eyes were locked on Hermione’s unconscious body in the bed to his right.

She was bandaged to hell and back, and while most of the blood had been washed away already, there were still traces of it in her hair, and even with the steady rise and fall of her chest, he was still convinced she was dead.

She’d been put back to sleep twenty minutes ago, after giving her statement to the Aurors, which could be boiled down very, very simply.

After Hermione had heard that Harry and the rest of their friends were missing, she snuck out after the professors and Mrs. Zabini to try and help find them like the brash, foolhardy Gryffindor that she is.

Instead of finding them, however, she had come across a broken, bloody, and still transformed Lupin, who attacked her before she could even process what she was seeing.

In her pain addled state, she didn’t know who had saved her, but she did know that whoever it was bandaged her wounds with silver and dittany before carrying her, and Lupin’s unconscious body, up to the castle and delivering them to Madam Pomfrey.

Oh, and topping it off with the fact that Hermione begged them not to press charges against Lupin, despite being bitten and nearly killed by him?

It was completely insane, but, with the statements that everyone else was making?

It somehow made perfect sense.

Daphne detailed how Nestor had mysteriously escaped and come to rescue her at the last minute before she, too, was mauled by Lupin.

Neville had explained that before he’d fallen unconscious, he could have sworn that he’d seen a familiar figure appear from underneath a cloak, despite not having been there only seconds before.

Hell, even Professor Snape said that after the apparition of his mum- his mum!!- had led them to their unconscious bodies, that they found a note written in oddly familiar handwriting, which detailed the injuries that each of them had obtained during the fight.

Oh, and there was the fact that, apparently, Sirius was dead.

But he didn’t… He didn’t feel dead.

At least, not to Harry.

He didn’t say that to the Aurors, however, instead choosing to stay silent as they asked him questions, because he had absolutely no idea what to say to them about any of what happened out there, and his throat was still killing him.

They believed that Sirius was dead, even if Harry himself didn’t believe it, and they were led to his and his friend’s miraculously healed bodies by the apparition of his mum, after he’d had a strange fever dream about her after cutting his own throat.

He sighed a bit, shaking his head as he finally looked over at Theo, who was wrapping up his statement to Minister Bones, before standing up as carefully as he could and making his way over to his boyfriend, sitting down and resting his head on his shoulder.

Theo’s hand found his, and he squeezed it gently, before turning and kissing his forehead.

Minister Bones smiled softly at them, before she tucked her parchment away and stood up.

“I’ll let you all get some much needed rest, okay?” She sighed. “We’ll come by again in the morning, in case you remember anything.”

“Thank you, Minister.” Neville replied softly, his voice raspy and wheezy, watching as she, and the Aurors, all filed out of the Hospital Wing, leaving only the students, professors, and Contessa Zabini within.

Snape turned to look at them, concern obvious in his eyes.

“Harry…” He began, but was quickly cut off.

“Sir, I really don’t want to listen to any more questions right now.” Harry rasped out, his voice still wrecked from earlier. “I’m tired, and… And I’m just trying to process everything.”

“...I understand.”

He nodded a bit, sitting up again and rubbing his face angrily.

“...None of this makes sense. How are we all fine? How did Hermione and Lupin get up here?”

“I don’t know.” Blaise groaned, flinching a bit as Mrs. Zabini applied more scar salve to his arm, wanting to try and eliminate as many burn scars as possible. “Maybe it was your Mum?”

“It couldn’t have been.” Daphne shook her head. “...Whoever sent Nestor to me sounded like a boy. Fiona’s voice was very distinct.”

“We also don’t know what Fiona was.” Draco added, his voice a little slurred from his concussion. “I mean… Was she a ghost? A wraith? Neither of those things can physically interact with our world…”

“That’s something else for us to research, I suppose.” Theo chuckled weakly, shaking his head before he turned to look at Harry. “Love..?”

Harry, however, just frowned more as he listened to them speak, his mind continuing to race as he fought to make sense of it all.

And then, like a flash of lightning, it hit him.

A boy had set Nestor free.

Neville saw someone appear from under a cloak, despite having been invisible before.

Someone levitated a partially healed Hermione, and a stunned Lupin, up to Madam Pomfrey.

And, when he was in the woods, someone with familiar magic had come to help him save his friends, before leaving them all with a note that detailed exactly what injuries they had sustained…

Holy fucking shit.

Harry jumped up to his feet, quickly making his way back over to his hospital bed and snatching up his bag, before he looked around, spotting the tray that held the silver powder and dittany that Madam Pomfrey had used on Daphne and Hermione’s wounds and snatching them up.

“Harry? What are you doing?” Mrs. Zabini asked with mounting concern in her voice.

“Doing something that I’ve already done, that way I’ll do it again.” He replied simply, double checking to make sure that he had everything he needed, before pulling his Time Turner from his shirt.

He turned to look at the clock, double checking the time before he faced his friends and professors again, a crooked grin on his face.

“...See you guys in about three hours. I’ve gotta go rescue our asses.”

Snape jumped up, his eyes wide, and before the man could lunge forward and stop him, Harry turned the charm three times, and the all too familiar rushing sensation of time travel swept past him.

He had a job to do, and thankfully?

He knew exactly how to do it, because in a way, he’d already done it once before.

Chapter Text

The Hospital Wing felt like a completely different place when it was empty, and it honestly made Harry a little bit uncomfortable.

It felt sterile. And silent, and just… Kinda strange.

Although that could also just be the knowledge of what he had to do next.

He went over the events of what happened over the past three hours in his mind as he pulled his invisibility cloak out of his bag, pulling it over his head and disappearing beneath it.

Once he was certain that he was completely invisible, he made his way over to the nearby windows, a small smile spreading across his face when he saw… Well, himself, and his friends, disappearing into the treeline.

Right on schedule.

He waited until Neville, who was taking up the rear of the group, had followed everyone into the trees to slip out of the infirmary, quickly making his way through the halls.

As he walked, he went over the events of the last three… No, the soon to be…?

Yeah, the next three hours, and the last three hours of his life.

“Jesus, that’s gonna be hard to remember.” Harry thought, shaking his head a bit as he made his way down the stairs and into the main hall.

He had to focus. No time to worry about the time paradox he was committing.

In twenty minutes, he and his friends were going to confront Sirius, Lupin would show up, and then Pettigrew would go feral and torture his boyfriend.

Harry grit his teeth at that.

Seeing Theo in agony like that had made something in him snap a bit, and, if he had to time to put some critical thought into why he had reacted as stupidly as he did, he would know it was purely out of fear that he would have to watch his boyfriend get killed in front of him.

Which, he was not keen on ever experiencing.

He slipped out of the double doors without a sound, and thankfully, without being noticed, and quickly made his way down to Hagrid’s hut. While he made his way over to Nestor’s paddock, he flicked his hand towards the gate, popping the lock open so he could make his way in easier.

“Hey, buddy…” Harry cooed softly, pulling the cloak off of his head as the unicorn trotted over, huffing and snuffing out of excitement as he began to nuzzle the top of the boy’s head. In return, he gently scratched Nestor’s neck, nuzzling him back as a show of affection. “I’m happy to see you too… Now, I hate to ask this of you, bud, but…”

He hesitated for a moment, which caused Nestor to step back, tilting his head like he was waiting for his friend to finish his sentence.

“Daphne is going to be in danger, Nes.” He explained, and he could see the unicorn’s body tense. “And I need you to be ready to rescue her from a werewolf. Do you think you can do that?”

Nestor huffed, stomping at the ground in an apparent agreement.

“Good boy. I’m gonna give you so many treats after this. You deserve it.” Harry smiled, kissing the unicorn’s snout as he pulled away a bit, looking over at the sunset with a frown. “Alright… They should be about to-”

He flinched, his entire body tensing up when he heard a familiar, agonized scream erupt from the forest, and despite being faint and distant, he still knew exactly where it was, and who it was from.

Theo.

Harry shut his eyes tightly, his heart starting to pound in his chest.

He would give up every galleon in his vault if he never had to hear that sound again.

The sound disappeared after a moment, and he let out a soft, shuddering sigh.

Then, he paused a sudden thought coming to him.

Where the fuck was his wand?

He hasn’t had it on him since- ohhhh.

Harry groaned, holding his hand out and tilting his head back out of frustration.

“Accio Harry Hartford’s wand.” He muttered, and, after a few minutes, the familiar piece of dark wood came flying out of the trees and into his hand, letting him close his grip around the handle. “Alright… At least I know this isn’t destroyed… I do like this wand.”

Nestor chuffed at his side, gently headbutting Harry as the two of them settled into a comfortable silence, watching as the sun finally fell below the horizon, and the full moon slowly began to rise.

As the moon rose, however, he could also see the beginnings of the blaze he had created.

Mostly because, from an outside perspective, watching an entire tree erupt into flames was absolutely horrifying.

He sighed, looking at the unicorn with a fairly tired expression.

“...Alright, buddy. Showtime.”

Nestor huffed in agreement, his tail flicking as he began to pace his paddock, while Harry pulled his cloak up over his head again, counting down the seconds until he heard what he was waiting for.

A howl.

A horrifying, blood curdling, howl.

He quickly made his way over to Nestor, knowing that Daphne and Lupin would be making their way back out of the forest any second now, and he wouldn’t have much time at all to send the unicorn to her rescue.

His eyes fell shut as he listened, the fire beginning to catch more and more trees, and the crackling sounds beginning to cover up the ones he was looking for.

That is, until he heard the sound of someone crashing through the treeline, and he whipped around to look.

There was Daphne, sprinting at full speed, with the massive, mangy form of Lupin only a few feet behind her.

How she was able to stay ahead of a bloodthirsty werewolf, he had absolutely no idea, but he was so very thankful she did.

Harry rested his hand on Nestor’s side, guiding him over to the open paddock gate, and he watched his friend as she ran, her gait veering sharply to the left, straight towards him and Nestor.

A grin spread across his face, and as soon as they were close enough, he swatted the unicorn on the flank.

“HYAH!” He shouted, mostly because he knew that was what cowboys in movies said when they needed their horses to pick up speed. Thankfully, it seemed to work, because Nestor took off without a second thought, speeding towards Daphne and Lupin so quickly he was simply a silver blur.

Then, to his surprise, he watched the unicorn take his friend out with a slight side swipe, before he completely fucked up Lupin.

From what Harry could see, the werewolf’s jaw was dislocated, and his left arm was broken in multiple places, and the ragged way his chest rose and fell made him think that some of his ribs were broken.

If it weren’t for the fact that the wolf would end up biting Hermione, something which he didn’t know when, exactly, happened? He would feel some sort of sympathy for him.

But, as the bastard bit his sister, he got nothing.

His attention was pulled back to Daphne and Nestor as the unicorn helped the girl up to her feet, a small smile pulling at his lips when he watched her hug the silver horse.

Then, he turned back to the trees, his smile falling when he finally saw just how big the fire had become in only a few minutes.

“Oh… Fuck…” He whispered, fixing his cloak once again and, after double checking that his wand was still firmly in his hand, he took off into the burning woods, casting Aguamenti charms on as many of the burning trees as he could, and trying to soak nearby trees to prevent the blaze from spreading much further.

As he ran, he let his magic reach out until it latched onto his friend’s, and even though he knew he wasn’t going to reach them before Pettigrew cast his final spell, he knew he would at least be there in time to save them.

His heart pounded in his chest, his lungs screaming from the smoke and the force with which he was sprinting, until he heard it.

Or, rather, felt it.

The shockwave that rippled through him from the force of the Bombarda felt like he’d just crashed his broom while moving at full speed, and it took all the strength he had in his body to keep himself upright, even as the air was knocked from his lungs.

To his surprise, and a bit of shock as well, he had to suddenly drop to the ground as Nestor came flying back at him.

So that’s where he went!

The thud that his equine friend made as he hit the ground made Harry wince, and he turned to look at him, sighing in relief when Nestor stumbled back up to his feet, seeming more stunned than injured.

“...Good job, Nes.” He said simply, as he too staggered up. “Get back to Hagrid’s, okay?”

Nestor looked at him and huffed, before he took off back towards the treeline, thankfully no worse for wear.

Harry couldn’t say the same for his friends, however, as he quickly dashed towards the clearing that Nestor had just been launched from.

His brain had been addled from the explosion last time, which meant that he really didn’t have a good perception of the carnage around him.

And it was so much worse than he’d originally thought.

Daphne’s pained gasps and choked screams hit his ears before anything else, and his heart clenched.

He hadn’t realized she’d even been conscious when she’d been impaled and, to his horror, she had multiple puncture wounds, multiple branches sticking out of the front of her shirt.

When he turned to look at Neville, he felt like he was going to puke. Watching his friend fight to breathe as his tie slowly tightened on his neck like a noose was horrifying, because he knew that he couldn’t do anything right at that second.

And, seeing the rest of his friends, and himself, bloody and broken felt like a scene out of a nightmare, especially as the blaze continued around them, threatening to take each and everyone of them from him.

If he wasn’t fast enough, if he misstepped even once…

“YOU FUCKING BASTARD-!” Sirius’ shout broke him out of his thoughts, and he whipped his head up to watch as his godfather all but flung Pettigrew into the fire, completely distracting him from the sounds of his own grief coming from behind him.

He didn’t want to see that, anyways.

Without any hesitation, he followed the two men, leaping through the flames and singing his jeans and shoes as he did so, watching as they exchanged blows, their fists bloody and faces bruised to hell and back.

“YOU WON’T TAKE HIM FROM ME AGAIN-! YOU WON’T FUCKING TAKE HARRY FROM ME AGAIN YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Sirius shrieked as he tackled the rat to the ground, starting to bash his head into it with a force his skinny body didn’t seem capable of.

Harry stood there for a moment, just… Watching.

He’d never seen someone else so violent before.

It was strangely fascinating.

At least, it was until he watched Pettigrew raise the wand in his hand like he was going to impale Sirius in the neck with it, and then it became a fucking problem.

And just like it had when he’d watched Theron Nott nearly strike Theo, he felt his magic flare up, red hot and furious.

Then, it lashed out, a bright red tendril of magic- bright red?- reaching out and ripping the wand from Pettigrew’s hand, sending it directly into Harry’s.

A grin spread across his face as he caught it, and he whipped his cloak off, startling both of the men as he pointed his regular wand at Pettigrew.

“Sirius. Do me a favor and get off of him, would you?” He asked softly, causing his godfather to scramble up to his feet, his eyes wide.

“Harry? How did you- Weren’t you just-” He began to ask, his voice raspy and ragged, but the boy held up a hand, silencing him.

“No time to explain. Just… Doing what I need to do.” Harry hummed, keeping his wand trained on a now terrified Pettigrew.

“Harry… Harry, please.” The rat whispered, starting to crawl backwards in an attempt to get away from the boy in front of him.

It was a pathetic sight.

“...You don’t get to beg. Not after what you did.” He hissed, slowly walking forward, completely ignoring Sirius as the man continued to try and get his attention. “Not after the pain you’ve caused. You think you get fucking mercy? Absolutely not.”

The roaring fire around them punctuated his words, and as true terror began to flood Pettigrew’s gaze, he couldn’t stop the wide, sadistic smile from spreading across his face.

Memories of the books he had read this past summer flowed through his mind, of the Unforgivable Curses, of dark magic that could only be cast when one held true, vitriolic contempt for the person that was being cast upon.

And Harry knew that he had more than enough for Peter-Fucking-Pettigrew.

“...Sirius may not be a murderer, but you know what sucks for you, Peter?”

“W-what..?”

“I am. And I’m a damn good one.”

With the image of Theo’s crumpled form, of the bodies of his mum and dad, and the knowledge that James and Lily died because of this man betraying their trust, he thrust his wand forward, the words falling from his lips without any hesitation.

“Avada Kedavra.”

A rush of magic passed through him as the emerald green jet of light shot from the tip of his wand, a magic so old and ancient it made Slytherin ring light up, seemingly sending a secondary jet into Pettigrew’s body, and causing him to let out a horrible shriek as he died.

A silence spread between the two wizards still standing, and Harry turned towards his godfather, stepping forward and grabbing the man’s face to pull him down.

“Sirius.” He said plainly. “I don’t have time to answer your questions, nor do I really want to right now, but all you need to know is that everything is going to be fine. Okay?”

His godfather’s shocked expression fell at his words, and he gently grabbed his hands, squeezing them a bit.

“E-everything… Everything is going to be fine.” Sirius repeated, nodding a bit as he looked at his godson. “Right.”

“You’re going to turn back into Snuffles, and you’re going to get the fuck out of here. I don’t know how, nor do I care how. You’re going to get the fuck out of here, because a team of Aurors and Minister Bones are on their way, and they’re going to mistake Pettigrew’s body for yours.”

“They’re going to-?”

“Hey! Listen to me! You’re going to get the fuck out of here, and you’re going to lay low for a while. Send me a letter when you’re safe, and then, once this shitstorm passes, you can come back. Okay?”

The two of them stared at one another for a moment, before Sirius nodded slowly, wrapping his arms around Harry in a tight hug before pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“...I’ll write to you as soon as I’m safe. I swear.” He whispered, and though he seemed like he wanted to say more, he pulled away, giving Harry one last gentle look.

“Love you, pup.”

“Love you too.” He replied easily, watching as his godfather easily turned into Snuffles- or, well, Padfoot, and took off running.

Once Sirius was out of sight, Harry turned back towards the clearing, pulling his cloak back over his head as he thrust his hands to the side, shoving the fire apart so he could walk through.

He grit his teeth a bit at the sight of his own body, kneeling and clutching Luna like a lifeline as his blood dripped down from his slashed open throat, staining her hair and face, and the strange, jelly-like magic that ebbed around them.

As he made his way over to them, he pulled his cloak off his head, tucking his wand into the holster on his thigh as he knelt down behind himself, watching his friends slowly become encased in the magic he was conjuring, being pulled closer and closer to the central mass of magic as he reached out, slowly wrapping his hands around his own neck and pressing his slashed throat closed, just like he had before.

Past-Harry leaned back slowly, a weak gasp of relief escaping him as his own head fell against his shoulder, and he gently kissed his forehead.

He smiled a bit as he felt their magics connect, wrapping around one another, like finding like, and strengthening each other.

He didn’t know how long it would take, but… He was perfectly happy doing this for as long as it took.

—

As it turns out, willing one’s magic to heal themselves, and six of their most beloved friends, was fucking exhausting.

Harry carefully forced his magic to lower each one of them to the ground, their healed, thankfully still living bodies limp and drained of strength, but blissfully asleep as the last of his magic worked through their systems.

He laid himself down last, gently cradling his own head as he lowered it to the ground, a few tears slipping down his cheeks as he did so.

It was strange, looking at himself like this.

He’d been avoiding mirrors as much as he could for months, mostly because every time he looked at himself in one, it made him feel sick.

But seeing himself like this..? Healing, exhausted, and just trying to save the people he loved from death..?

How Harry had ever hated himself, he didn’t understand.

He was only a child. He was fourteen fucking years old, and while his reflections never seemed to reflect that properly, being able to see himself like this made it so very clear.

He was a fucking kid.

“Jesus…” Harry muttered, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. “I really need to go to therapy…”

He laughed a bit, before he dug around in his bag and grabbed a piece of parchment and a pen, quickly scribbling down everyone’s injuries, including his own, before tucking the note into Luna’s hand. After checking over them one final time, he stood up, moving to pull his cloak back over his head, before he stopped.

The rings on his past self’s necklace were glowing. Glowing that familiar blue that he had only seen one other time before.

When they had saved him in the Chamber of Secrets.

Harry stepped back, watching six glowing orbs of light slowly lift out of the rings, five of them forming a circle around the clearing, seemingly pushing the fire back.

The sixth stopped in front of him, its glow slowly wisping out around it, starting to solidify and form the all too familiar shape of his mum, who smiled at him.

Fiona reached out gently, her ghostly, glowing hands cupping his face as she leaned in to kiss his forehead.

“...Go, sweetheart.” She whispered, her voice warbling and shaky. “We’ve got it from here.”

“We..?” He asked quietly, and as she stepped away from him, he was able to see the forms the rest of the lights had taken.

His Dad, Gid, stood about ten feet away, his arm sticking through the blaze and holding it open, creating a path for him to walk through.

His grandparents, Edward and Elspeth, their smiling faces ones he had only ever seen in photos, taking their places to hold the fire back as well.

And opposite them were Marius and Victoria, his mum’s grandparents, who had stern, tired looks in their eyes, yet still gazed upon him with love and adoration.

His family.

Harry slowly looked back up at Fiona, his eyes wide.

“We are here to protect you, Harry.” She whispered. “Because we love you. You have nothing to worry about. Go do what you need to do.”

“We’ll take care of them, Haz.” Gid nodded. “Nothing’s gonna hurt them. Not as long as we’re here.”

“O-... Okay.” He said shakily, taking a few steps away from Fiona and heading towards Gid, who opened the blaze wider for him to step through. “...Thank you.”

“Of course, kiddo.” His dad grinned. “Now… Go kick werewolf ass.”

Harry cracked a small smile, looking back at his parents and grandparents, before he set his face in determination, turning around and sprinting through the still burning fire.

He could feel magic brewing behind him, magic that felt like his own, but… Different, somehow.

It was hard to explain.

But, he didn’t have time to question it. He had to find Hermione.

As he ran, he pulled his cloak back up over his head, disappearing from view as he rushed out of the trees. His head whipped around in surprise when he saw the professors, and Mrs. Zabini, rushing their way down the hill towards the burning forest.

He really was right on schedule.

Harry took a deep breath, letting his tendrils of magic reach out until they latched onto Hermione’s own warmth, and he began making his way towards the Black Lake, shivering when Lupin’s feral magic came in range as well, causing him to pick up the pace.

As he crested the hill to the lake, he spotted them, with Hermione trying to rush her way down to the forest on the side path, while Lupin stalked her from just above.

He was about to call out to her, shout her name in an attempt to reach her before the wolf did, but then the beast leapt out from the trees, his dislocated jaw hanging limply as he tackled the girl to the ground, causing her to let out a strangled shriek before his top row of teeth sank into her shoulder, his claws ripping into her flesh as he tried to rip his head back.

Tried to rip away a chunk of meat.

Before he could even form a plan, Harry rushed down, his cloak flying off his shoulders as he thrust his hands out, forcing his magic to wrap around Lupin and yank him up into the air, away from his sister, and yanking his arm to the side, slamming the wolf into the ground with such a force that he was certain that he had just broken more bones.

He knelt down at Hermione’s side, her bloody, ripped up torso forming a pool around her as she gasped for air, and he immediately got to work.

Silver powder first, then Dittany.

He yanked the powder out of his bag, going for the large gash in her torso first, since it went from her sternum to her pelvis, sprinkling a generous amount of the powder into the wound from top to bottom, before dumping Dittany into it.

The wound began to close, but it obviously wasn’t enough, and he continued dumping silver powder and Dittany into it, trying to ignore the painful sobs escaping from Hermione’s throat as he did so.

“I know, I know…” He cooed softly, running a hand over her hair as he poured more Dittany into the wounds. “It’ll be done soon. I’m so sorry…”

“I-it hurts…” She hiccupped, her eyes rolling back into her head as she passed out.

Harry hissed a bit, but continued to reassure her as he worked. “I know, I know. I’m doing what I can. You’re gonna be okay.”

Finally, the large gash closed itself, and he was able to move on to the rest of the wounds, although he didn’t have nearly enough supplies. After a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed his wand, sticking it towards the castle and flicking it.

“Accio Silver Powder. Accio Essence of Dittany.” He murmured, making a mental note to buy some more of it for Madam Pomfrey as an apology for stealing her stock.

It took a moment for the powder and potions to arrive, but once they did, he got right back to work, closing as many of the wounds as he could.

Once he had worked his way through the second batch of supplies, he sighed, conjuring bandages and wrapping them around the rest of the wounds as tight as he could, before he carefully levitated Hermione’s unconscious body up into the air.

After a moment of consideration, Harry sighed, flicking his wand towards Lupin and tying him up before levitating him as well, starting to head up back to the castle, grabbing his cloak along the way and haphazardly yanking it over his head.

A shiver ran up his spine as he glanced over his shoulder after reaching the large double doors, watching the explosion of flame erupt from the forest, and the blue shield that was erected in front of the adults there to try and rescue him and his friends.

Harry smiled a bit, running a hand through his hair with his free hand.

“Thanks, Mum.” He said quietly, before pushing the doors open and heading inside, starting the slow, anxiety inducing walk up to the Hospital Wing.

Then, he had to play the waiting game.

And he really, really hated the waiting game.

—

The alcoves of the castle gave Harry plenty of good hiding places to wait until he could go back into the hospital to see his healed friends again, and, until then, he spent that time studying the rings on his necklace.

Despite being obviously magical, due to the runes on them, he had no idea how, or why, they were able to summon the spirits of his parents. Or his grandparents, for that matter.

With a small sigh, he pulled out his notebook, making another reminder for himself in the many, many pages of reminders and research topics that he had made.

-

Research spirits that connect themselves to jewelry. How, why, and why do Mum and Dad only seem to come back when I’m in danger??

Repeatable? Family Heirloom Magic???

-

Once that was written out, he popped the book back into his bag for later, and pulled his necklace back on. A quick check of the nearby grandfather clock let him know that in about six minutes, he would be sending himself back in time, and then he could go back in. So, he carefully got up out of his seat and began heading up the stairs once again, taking as many side paths as possible to avoid being caught.

He paused in one of the short hallways, watching Minister Bones and Auror Shacklebolt’s hushed, worried conversation they had just in front of the Hospital Wing doors until they moved on, letting him creep his way over.

Once he heard Snape’s chair scrape back against the ground, and a few startled noises escape his friends, Harry shoved the doors open, walking in and plopping himself down on the bed next to Theo again.

Everyone stared at him in wide eyed shock, before he sighed, taking the Time Turner off from around his neck, and handing it to his Head of House.

“...I’ll explain later. For now? I think I just need to go the fuck to sleep.” He said simply. “I’ve had a long night, and I think I’m done with time travel.”

And when no one protested, he flopped back against his boyfriend’s shoulder and closed his eyes, a long sigh of relief escaping him.

He did what he needed to do. His friends were safe, he was safe, and… And everything was fine.

Everything was perfectly fine.

Chapter Text

Late last night, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, escaped Azkaban convict Sirius Black burned to death in an apparent forest fire, which was, thankfully, the only casualty of the night.

While the people involved in the incident are mostly minors, and as such, cannot be interviewed without a legal guardian’s permission, we here at the Daily Prophet were given some information by both Minister Amelia Bones, and Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, and the details are as follows.

From what we know, Student A was kidnapped by Black, while Students B through G followed behind in an attempt to rescue their friend. During the scuffle, within which a wand was stolen, and a chase occurred.

In a move that we have seen from Black before, he used a ‘Bombarda Maxima' to explode the clearing that he and the students were in, burning himself alive like he had done to Peter Pettigrew all those years ago, and thankfully, managing to leave the students with only minor injuries.

At the same time, however, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Remus Lupin, who has been afflicted with the werewolf curse since he was a child, was also wreaking havoc amongst the school, as he had not taken his dose of the Wolfsbane Potion that night and, as such, attacked two students.

While both students survived, one of them has, unfortunately, also been afflicted with the werewolf curse, but has begged Minister Bones herself not to press charges out of fear of Lupin being executed for a mistake.

However, Minister Bones and Headmistress McGonagall have both confirmed that Professor Lupin has chosen to resign from his position at Hogwarts, and does not plan on returning due to his deep shame at what he has done.

Details are still scarce on both incidents, as, again, those involved were minors, but the bravery and kindness of these students must not go unmentioned, as they all were put at risk, yet persevered and made it through alright.

And, thankfully, with Black’s confirmed death, we can all rest easy again, knowing that the man is no longer free to terrorize Wixen any longer.

—

Harry sighed a bit, handing the paper over to Hermione, who was sitting up in her hospital bed and attempting to eat her soup.

“Well… Thankfully they kept our names out of the paper.” He sighed a bit, shaking his head. “It's a shit show, though…”

“Yeah…” She replied quietly, looking over the article with a grim expression, running her hand over her shoulder as she took another sip of her soup.

“How are you feeling, ‘Mionie?”

“Not good. Like, at all…” Hermione laughed weakly, closing her eyes. “All of my senses are on high alert… And it's all so overstimulating… And my soup smells so bad I wanna puke…”

Harry frowned, gently taking the bowl away from her. “Let’s not and say we did, huh?”

She chuckled a bit, rubbing her face as she turned to look at him.

“...Thank you. For saving me.”

“Hey, what are brothers for?” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Once I knew what was going on, I-... I couldn't just leave you there.”

“Still. You broke, so many laws to go back in time and help us.” She shook her head. “I don't know if I could have done that.”

Harry paused, leaning forward a bit as he tilted his head to look up at her.

“...Sometimes, the things that are right, and the things that are legal, don't cross over. What I did was incredibly illegal, I know that. But morally? It was right.”

“Yeah, I… I guess that makes sense. You Slytherins and your weird morals…”

“You Gryffindors and your bullheadedness.” He teased right back.

Hermione huffed at him, although there was no heat behind it, before she pulled her legs up to her knees, staring at the windows in front of her. She looked deep in thought, and it seemed like the thoughts she was having were unpleasant to say the least.

Harry sighed softly, digging around in his bag until he found his notebook and grabbing a pen, scribbling down a couple of addresses.

“Listen… I'm gonna let you get some rest, but… Over the summer, if you need a safe place to go, or just… Need to get away for a bit, these are some safe places for you to go.” He said softly, handing her the paper. “Grimmauld Place you can get to without a floo chimney, but Malfoy Manor and Zabini Villa need a floo.”

She looked down at the addresses, a small smile on her face as she turned to look at him.

“Thanks, Harry… I… I really appreciate it…” Hermione said softly, and he leaned in to kiss her forehead.

“Always. And, if anyone gives you shit? Let me know. I’ll kill them for you.”

“Harry, no killing.”

“Yes.”

She huffed, pouting a bit, and he sighed in response, holding his hands up in defeat.

“Fine… No killing… Before I go, though… McGonagall is gonna be the one taking you home, right?” Harry asked, arching a brow. “So she can explain what happened to your Mum and Dad.”

Hermione's face turned grim at that, and she looked away.

“...Yeah. I'm not… I'm not looking forward to that…”

He hesitated, gently wrapping his arms around her.

“It’ll be fine. And, anyways, if you need somewhere safe…”

“I know. I’ll come find you.” She whispered, hugging back tightly. “Now go, I don't want you to miss the train, you brat.”

Harry scoffed, pulling away and running his hand through his hair. “Me? A brat? You're mistaken. I’m a bloody fuckin angel!”

“Nope. Brat. My favorite brat of a brother who I love very much, but a brat nonetheless.”

He stuck his tongue out at her at that, carefully making his way out of the hospital wing. He stopped in the doorway, turning back and smiling at her.

“Love you too, Hermione. See you soon.”

“See you soon, Harry.” Hermione smiled back, waving as he shut the door behind him, making his way over to the bench that Theo had sat himself down on, their trunks at his feet as he buried himself into his book.

Harry leaned down, pressing a kiss to his cheek, and causing his boyfriend to look up with a smile.

“She doing okay?” He asked softly, sliding a bookmark into place and standing up.

“As well as she can be, given the circumstances.”

“Well… That's better than expected, right?”

“Definitely.” He nodded in response, tapping their trunks with his fingers and shrinking them down before popping them into his bag. “Hedwig and Meph are already on their way home?”

“Yep. Sent them out this morning.” Theo nodded, sliding his hand into Harry's and squeezing it a bit, the two of them starting to walk down the corridors, making their way down to where the rest of their friends were waiting so they could walk down to the train station together.

It was a weird feeling, all of them leaving for the year, relatively unscathed. Sure, some of his friends had new scars, and they’d all been through hell together…

But they were alive, and that was most important.

Harry ran his free hand along his neck, the slight buzzing of magic where he had cut his throat making him shiver, but the fact that he hadn't scarred had been a massive relief.

He had enough to deal with when it came to his arms and forehead. He didn't need another visible scar to make everyone feel uncomfortable.

“There they are! Guys! Hurry up!” Blaise called, frantically waving his arms to get their attention. “We only have twenty minutes!”

In response, the two of them picked up the pace, dashing over to their friends as quickly as they could. They didn't say much after that, the group of them all rushing down to the train station and piling on, their chests heaving from how quickly they’d ran.

Once they made it into a compartment, they all flopped into their designated seats, trying to catch their breaths and relax a bit for the train ride to come.

“Say… Did… Did you guys hear what happened last night..?” Draco asked, sitting up a bit. “During the fire?”

“No, what?” Daphne frowned.

“Apparently, someone busted open the Hippogriff paddock.” He chuckled. “All but one of them has been accounted for.”

Luna gasped a bit. “Oh no! Who's missing?”

“Buckbeak, it seems. Hagrid was going on and on about it during breakfast. He’s devastated. But there's no sign that he was burned, so…”

Harry paused, a frown forming on his face as he tilted his head to the side.

“...Sirius must have taken him.” He said after a moment, looking at his friends. “To escape, I mean. A Hippogriff is much faster than a dog, after all…”

“Maybe.” Neville nodded a bit. “You’ll have to ask him once he sends you a letter. That way we know for sure.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Explaining to his friends the night before what, exactly, had happened to them had been a complete and utter debacle.

Especially when he revealed to them that Sirius was, in fact, alive, and perfectly fine.

But, thankfully, they were all so used to the insanity that was their lives that after a only a few minutes of freaking out, as Harry had conveniently left out the part about him casting an Unforgivable Curse with such ease that it even scared him a bit, they all calmed down and understood.

He was so, so grateful that they had so much tolerance for his insanity.

He loved them for that. He really, really did.

Theo hummed a bit, sliding an arm around Harry's shoulders and hugging him close, resting his head on top of his boyfriend's. They all settled into a comfortable silence, during which, Blaise pulled his own copy of the Daily Prophet out of his bag, starting to flick through it.

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he flipped to what Harry was fairly certain was the sports section, and his suspicions were confirmed when he sat up excitedly.

“The World Cup final is happening this August!” He gasped. “Here, in the UK!”

“Why is the Daily Prophet reporting on muggle football?” Harry wondered aloud, his mind not quite processing his friend’s words, which is when Draco swatted his shoulder. “Hey-!”

“Not the muggle World Cup! The Quidditch World Cup!” He scolded. “Dad's been talking about it for months! What does it say?”

“That Ireland and Bulgaria are likely to be this years match, and that tickets are going on sale in two weeks for the game in August!”

Harry lit up at that, sitting up and starting to chatter excitedly with Draco and Blaise about the upcoming game, his own excitement mounting with every word.

The other four people in the compartment sighed a bit, before they exchanged a quick giggle.

That level of excitement between their friends meant only one thing.

They’d absolutely be attending the World Cup later this year, and, with any luck, everything would go off without a hitch.

Because really, they could all use a year without any crazy shit happening, and they could only hope that this would be the one.

—

Lucius couldn't stop staring at the mark on his arm.

Truth be told, he didn't think he would ever stop staring at it, because the sight of that… That fucking mark made him sick, and yet he couldn't tear his eyes away.

The slightly darkened ink that marked him as a servant of a Lord.

No, not a servant.

A slave.

Bound to serve the monster until his dying breath.

And it was coming back.

“Lucius? Darling, it's almost time to go and get the boys from the station.” Narcissa called, pulling his gaze away from the Dark Mark and up to the doorway, where he offered his wife a weak smile.

“A-ah. Yes, right, of course.” He nodded quickly, pulling his sleeve back down as he made his way over to her, kissing her forehead. “Let's go. I’d rather get them here early so we can hurry back home.”

She looked up at him, a worried frown on her face. “Has something happened?”

“Hm? Oh, no, no… Nothing to worry about, my darling. I just… Got lost in thought.”

Narcissa didn't seem convinced, but she nodded anyways, not seeming very eager to get into a stressful conversation at that moment.

And, he couldn't help but understand. The knowledge that their boys had nearly been killed the night before, and that the story the Daily Prophet printed was only part of the truth was terrifying, and she wanted to know exactly what happened.

But, as they made their way to the fireplace in the sitting room, Lucius couldn't stop scratching at the mark on his arm.

This was bad.

This was really, truly, awfully bad.

And as soon as he was home again, he was going to get in contact with Severus.

Because if The Dark Lord was returning, they needed to be prepared.

The two of them were all but traitors to the cause, after all.

And he refused to let his son, or any of the children who trusted him, fall into that bastard's hands. No matter what it took.

He would not do to them what his own father did to him.